Ozzy Osbourne
Encyclopedia
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal
band Black Sabbath
, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal genre.
In his subsequent solo career Osbourne achieved a multi-platinum
status in addition to the one he had earned with Black Sabbath. These things are what led Osbourne to become known as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal". It was during his Sabbath days that, due to their dark style of music, Osbourne became known as the "Prince of Darkness". Osbourne has over 15 tattoo
s, the most famous of which are the letters O-Z-Z-Y across the knuckles of his left hand. This was his first tattoo, created by himself as a teenager with a sewing needle
and pencil lead.
In the early 2000s, Osbourne's career expanded to a new medium when he became a star in his own reality show, The Osbournes
, alongside wife/manager Sharon
and two of their three children, Kelly
and Jack
. A documentary about his life and career, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, premiered in April 2011 at the Tribeca Film Festival
and will be released on DVD in November 2011. As of December 2010, Osbourne has sold over 100 million albums worldwide both as a solo artist and a member of Black Sabbath.
, Birmingham, England, on 3 December 1948. His father Jack worked shifts as a toolmaker at GEC. His mother Lillian worked for the car components firm Lucas
. John was the fourth of six children. Ozzy had two brothers (Paul and Tony) and three sisters (Jean, Iris and Gillian); they lived in a small two bedroom home at 14 Lodge Road in Aston. The nickname "Ozzy" was first used when he was in primary school. Although called "John" by his first wife Thelma, Osbourne states that it has been a long time since he's recognised himself when called by his formal name. Osbourne grew up dealing with dyslexia
and other learning disabilities. General abuse from teachers at Prince Albert Road Junior School, and Birchfield Road Secondary Modern School
in Perry Barr
made his childhood difficult for him. Drawn to the stage, Osbourne took part in school plays such as The Pirates of Penzance
. Upon hearing their first hit single at age 14, he became a great fan of The Beatles
. He left school at 15 and was then employed as a construction site labourer, trainee plumber
, apprentice toolmaker, car factory horn-tuner and slaughterhouse
worker. He spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison
when he was unable to pay a fine after being found guilty of burglary of a clothes shop.
In late 1967, Geezer Butler
formed his first band "Rare Breed" with Osbourne. The band played two shows then broke up. Separated for a time, Osbourne and Butler reunited in Polka Tulk Blues along with guitarist Tony Iommi
and drummer Bill Ward. They renamed themselves Earth, but after being booked in error instead of a small-time English circuit band with the same name, they decided to change their name again. They finally chose the name Black Sabbath
in early 1969 based on a film
directed by Mario Bava
, starring Boris Karloff
. The band had noticed how people enjoyed being frightened, and, inspired, Iommi and his partners decided to play a heavy blues
style of music laced with gloomy sounds and lyrics. While recording their first album in a castle, Geezer read an occult book and had a dream of a dark figure at the end of his bed. Butler told Osbourne about the dream and together they wrote the lyrics to "Black Sabbath
", one of their first songs in a darker vein.
Despite only a modest investment from their US record label Warner Bros. Records
, Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success. Built around Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, Geezer Butler's lyrics
, Bill Ward's dark tempo drumbeats, and topped by Osbourne's eerie vocals, early records such as their debut album Black Sabbath
and Paranoid
sold huge numbers, as well as getting considerable airplay. Osbourne recalls a band lament, "in those days, the band wasn't very popular with the women."
Just five months after the release of Paranoid the band released Master of Reality
. The album reached the top ten in both the US and UK, and was certified gold in less than two months. In the 1980s it received platinum certification and went Double Platinum in the early 21st century. Reviews of the album were unfavorable. Lester Bangs
of Rolling Stone
dismissed Master of Reality as "naïve, simplistic, repetitive, absolute doggerel", although the very same magazine would later place the album at number 298 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, compiled in 2003. Black Sabbath's Volume 4 was released in September 1972. Critics were again dismissive of the album, yet it achieved gold status in less than a month. It was the band's fourth consecutive release to sell a million copies in the US. In November 1973, Black Sabbath released the critically acclaimed Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
. For the first time, the band received favourable reviews in the mainstream press. Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone called the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair", and "nothing less than a complete success". AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia call the album a "masterpiece, essential to any heavy metal collection," while also claiming the band displayed "a newfound sense of finesse and maturity". The album marked the band's fifth consecutive platinum selling album in the US. Sabotage was released in July 1975. Again there were favourable reviews. Rolling Stone stated, "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever." Allmusic was not so favourable. They noted that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Volume 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate". Technical Ecstasy
, released on 25 September 1976, was also met with mixed reviews. AllMusic gave the album two stars, and noted that the band was "unravelling at an alarming rate".
, who had supported Black Sabbath in Birmingham when they were called Earth, did backup for Osbourne in the studio and briefly became the first incarnation of his solo band. At the request of the other members, Osbourne rejoined Sabbath. The band spent five months at Sounds Interchange Studios in Toronto, Canada, writing and recording what would become Never Say Die!
"It took quite a long time," Iommi said. "We were getting really drugged out, doing a lot of dope. We'd go down to the sessions, and have to pack up because we were too stoned, we'd have to stop. Nobody could get anything right, we were all over the place, everybody's playing a different thing. We'd go back and sleep it off, and try again the next day." Touring in support of Never Say Die! began in May 1978 with openers Van Halen
. Reviewers called Black Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired", in stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time. The band filmed a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in June 1978, which was later released on DVD as Never Say Die. The final show of the tour, and Osbourne's last appearance with the band (until later reunions) was in Albuquerque, New Mexico
on 11 December.
In 1979, back in the studio tensions and conflict were present continually. Osbourne recalls being asked to record his vocals over and over, and tracks being manipulated endlessly by Iommi. This was a point of contention between Osbourne and Iommi. With the support of Geezer and Bill Ward, Osbourne was again fired from Black Sabbath. The reasons provided to him were that he was unreliable and had excessive substance abuse
issues as compared to the other band members. Osbourne claims his drug use and alcohol consumption at that time were no better nor worse than that of the other band members.
Conflict of a sort had existed between Iommi and Osbourne from the beginning. When responding to a flyer reading "Ozzy Zig Needs Gig- has own PA" posted in a record store, Iommi and Ward arrived at the address listed to speak with Ozzy Zig. When Osbourne answered the door, Iommi left upon discovering it was him. He knew of and disliked Osbourne from back in their school days. The band replaced him with former Rainbow
singer Ronnie James Dio
.
, the Ozzy Osbourne Band formed again as The Blizzard of Ozz. The first line-up of the band featured drummer Lee Kerslake
(of Uriah Heep
), bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley
(of Rainbow and later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey
, and guitarist Randy Rhoads
(of Quiet Riot
). The record company would eventually title the record Blizzard of Ozz
credited simply under Osbourne's name. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, the album brought Osbourne considerable success on his first solo effort. The debut sold very well with hard rock/heavy metal fans.
Blizzard of Ozz is one of the very few albums amongst the 100 best selling albums of the 1980s to have achieved multi-platinum status without the benefit of a Top 40 single. As of August 1997, it achieved Quadruple Platinum status according to RIAA. The album is known for the globally recognised singles "Crazy Train
" and "Mr. Crowley
", and fan favourites "Goodbye to Romance" and "Revelation (Mother Earth)". Although Kerslake and Daisley are credited as the studio musicians for The Blizzard of Ozz, the touring band in support of the album consisted of Osbourne, Rhoads, Rudy Sarzo
(Bass) and Tommy Aldridge
(Drums).
Osbourne's second album, Diary of a Madman
featured more songs co-written with Bob Daisley. For his work on this album and his first
, Randy Rhoads
, was ranked the 85th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003. This album is known for the singles "Over the Mountain" and "Flying High Again"; additionally, Osbourne explains in his autobiography that Diary is his own personal favourite album.
On 19 March 1982 while Rhoads was in Florida for the follow-up Diary of a Madman tour, and a week away from playing Madison Square Garden
in New York City, a light aircraft piloted by Andrew Aycock (the band's tour bus driver) carrying guitarist Randy Rhoads
crashed while performing low passes over the band's tour bus. In a prank turned deadly, the right wing of the aircraft clipped the bus, grazed a tree, and crashed into the attached garage of a nearby mansion killing Rhoads, Aycock, and the band's hairdresser, Rachel Youngblood. On autopsy, cocaine was found to be present in Aycock's urine. Experiencing firsthand the horrific death of his close friend and band mate, Osbourne fell into a deep depression.
Ex-Gillan
guitarist Bernie Torme
was the first guitarist to replace Randy once the tour resumed. Torme's tenure with the band would last less than one month. During an audition for guitarists in a hotel room, Osbourne selected Brad Gillis
(who went on to be one of two guitarists in Night Ranger
) to finish the tour. The tour culminated in the release of the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil recorded at the Ritz in New York City. A live tribute album for Rhoads was also later released.
, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Osbourne later commented (inside the cover of "Tribute") "I don't give a fuck about that album. It was just a bunch of bullshit Sabbath covers."
In 1982, Osbourne appeared as lead vocalist on the Was (Not Was)
pop dance track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)
." Madonna
performed backing vocals. Osbourne's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (Not Was) greatest hits album in Europe, and it cracked the UK pop chart. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger
were added to complement Osbourne's lead.
, formerly of Ratt
and Rough Cutt
, joined the band to record Bark at the Moon
. The album, co-written with Bob Daisley, featured Tommy Aldridge
, and former Rainbow keyboard player Don Airey. The album contains the fan favourite "Bark at the Moon". The music video for "Bark at the Moon" was partially filmed at the Holloway Sanitorium outside of London, England. Within weeks the album became certified gold. To date it has sold three million copies in the U.S.
1986's The Ultimate Sin
followed (with bassist Phil Soussan
and drummer Randy Castillo
), and touring behind both albums with ex-Uriah Heep keyboardist John Sinclair joining prior to the Ultimate Sin tour. A rich, bold album, it features "Shot in the Dark" and fan favourites "Killer of Giants", "Lightning Strikes", and "Secret Loser". At the time of its release, The Ultimate Sin was Osbourne's highest charting studio album. The RIAA awarded the album Platinum status on 14 May 1986, soon after its release; it was awarded Double Platinum status on 26 October 1994.
Jake E. Lee and Osbourne parted ways in 1987. Osbourne continued to struggle with chemical dependency. That year he commemorated the fifth anniversary of Rhoads' death with Tribute, live recordings from 1981 that had gone unreleased for years. In 1988, Osbourne appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization II
: The Metal Years and told the director, Penelope Spheeris
, that "sobriety fucking sucks." Meanwhile, Osbourne found Zakk Wylde
, who was the most enduring replacement for Rhoads to date. Together they recorded No Rest for the Wicked with Castillo on drums, Sinclair on keyboards, and Daisley co-writing lyrics and playing bass. The subsequent tour saw Osbourne reunited with erstwhile Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler on bass. A live EP (entitled Just Say Ozzy
) featuring Geezer was released two years later. Butler continued to tour with Osbourne for the subsequent four tours, and was a major stage presence throughout. In 1989, Ozzy Osbourne performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival
.
. The album enjoyed much radio and MTV
exposure. It also initiated a practice of bringing in outside composers to help pen Osbourne's solo material instead of relying solely upon his recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. The album was mixed by veteran rock producer Michael Wagener
. Osbourne was awarded his only Grammy
for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from live album Live and Loud
for Best Metal Performance
of 1994
.
Wagener also mixed the live album Live and Loud
released in 28 June 1993. At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album. The album went platinum
four times over, and ranked at number 10 on that year's Billboard rock charts.
At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement tour" (which was to be short-lived). It was comically called "No More Tours", a pun on his No More Tears album. Prior to the tour Mike Inez
took over on bass and Kevin Jones on keyboards as Sinclair was touring with The Cult. Osbourne's entire CD catalogue was remastered and reissued in 1995.
and returned to touring, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". The album reached number 4 on the US Billboard 200
. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold and platinum in that same year, and double platinum in April 1999. The album features the hard rocking fan favourites "Perry Mason", "Ghost Behind My Eyes", "Thunder Underground", and the power ballad "See You on the Other Side".
The line-up on Ozzmosis was Zakk Wylde
, Geezer Butler
(who had just quit Black Sabbath again) and ex-Bad English
, Steve Vai
and Hardline
drummer Deen Castronovo
, now in Journey
. Keyboards were played by Yes
s Rick Wakeman
and producer Michael Beinhorn. The tour maintained Butler and Castronovo and saw Sinclair return, but a major line-up change was the introduction of ex-David Lee Roth
guitarist Joe Holmes
. Wylde was considering an offer to join Guns N' Roses
. Unable to wait for a decision on Wylde's departure decision, Osbourne replaced him. In early 1996, Butler and Castronovo left. Mike Inez (Alice In Chains
) and Randy Castillo
(Lita Ford
, Motley Crue
) filled in. Ultimately, Faith No More
's Mike Bordin
and ex-Suicidal Tendencies
bassist Robert Trujillo
joined on drums and bass respectively. A greatest hits package, The Ozzman Cometh
was issued in 1997.
, created and managed by his wife/manager Sharon and assisted by his son Jack
. The first Ozzfest was held in Phoenix, Arizona on 25 October 1996 and in Devore, California on 26 October. Ozzfest was an instant hit with metal fans, spiralling many up-and-coming groups who were featured there to broad exposure and commercial success. Some acts shared the bill with a reformed Black Sabbath during the 1997 Ozzfest tour, beginning in West Palm Beach, Florida. Osbourne reunited with the original members of Sabbath in 1997 and has performed periodically with them ever since. Ozzfest reinstated the integrity of, and public familiarity with, the band name Black Sabbath.
Since its start, five million people have attended Ozzfest, which has grossed over US$100 million. The festival also helped promote many new hard rock and heavy metal acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ozzfest helped Osbourne to become the first hard rock and heavy metal star to hit $50 million in merchandise sales.
In 2005, Osbourne and his wife Sharon starred in an MTV competition reality show entitled "Battle for Ozzfest
". A number of yet unsigned bands send one member to compete in a challenge to win a spot on the 2005 Ozzfest and a possible recording contract.
Shortly after Ozzfest
2005, Osbourne announced that he will no longer headline Ozzfest. Although he announced his retirement from Ozzfest, Osbourne came back for one more year, 2006, albeit only closing for just over half the concerts, leaving the others to be closed by System of a Down
. He also played the closing act for the second stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre
in Mountain View, CA on 1 July as well as Randall's Island
, NY on 29 July. After the concert in Bristol, Virginia, Osbourne announced he would return for another year of Ozzfest in 2007. Tickets for the 2007 tour were offered to fans free of charge, which led to some controversy. In 2008, Ozzfest was reduced to a one-day event in Dallas, Texas, where Osbourne played, along with Metallica
and King Diamond
.
Osbourne says he is looking forward to the return of Ozzfest
for six dates this summer and is also looking at an 18-month world tour starting at The Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone
on 29 June to promote his new album, "Scream".
, Osbourne's first album of new studio material in seven years, was released on 16 October 2001. A live version filmed in Japan, Live at Budokan
followed. Down to Earth went gold in 2001, and platinum in 2003. The album features the fan favourite "Dreamer," a song which peaked at number 10 on Billboard'
s Mainstream Rock Tracks
. In 2003, Osbourne recruited former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted
after he left the band in 2000 (and Trujillo replaced him on Metallica's line-up). Both Newsted and Osbourne were enthusiastic about recording an album together.
On 8 December 2003, Osbourne was rushed into emergency surgery at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough
, England when he had an accident with his all-terrain vehicle
on his estate in Jordans, Buckinghamshire. Osbourne broke his collar bone, eight ribs, and a neck vertebra. An operation was performed to lift the collarbone, which was believed to be resting on a major artery and interrupting blood flow to the arm. Sharon later revealed that Osbourne had stopped breathing following the crash and was resuscitated by Osbourne's then personal bodyguard, Sam Ruston. While in hospital, Osbourne achieved his first ever UK number one single, a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad, "Changes" with daughter Kelly. In doing so, he broke the record of the longest period between an artist's first UK chart appearance (with Black Sabbath's "Paranoid
", number four in August 1970) and their first number one hit: a gap of 33 years. Since the quad accident, aside from some short-term memory problems, he fully recovered and headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, in the reunited Black Sabbath.
" with Miss Piggy
. The fourth disc is entirely new material where Osbourne covers his favourite songs by his biggest influences and favourite bands, including The Beatles
, John Lennon
, David Bowie
and others.
of Black Label Society. In October 2006, it was announced that Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice
, and Geezer Butler would be touring together again, though not as Black Sabbath, but under the moniker Heaven and Hell (the title of Dio's first Black Sabbath album). The response to the news on Osbourne's website was that Osbourne wished Tony and Ronnie well and that there is only one Sabbath.
Osbourne's album, titled Black Rain
, was released on 22 May 2007. Osbourne's first new studio album in almost six years, it featured a more serious tone than previous albums. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation...But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go (to pieces)'", Osbourne stated in a Billboard interview.
, he said he felt his songs were beginning to sound like Black Label Society
and fancied a change. In August 2009, Osbourne performed at the gaming festival BlizzCon
with a new guitarist in his line-up, Gus G (Firewind
, ex-Nightrage
, ex-Dream Evil
).
Osbourne also provided his voice and likeness to the video game Brütal Legend
character The Guardian of Metal. In November, Slash
featured Osbourne on vocals in his single "Crucify The Dead", and Osbourne with wife Sharon
were guest hosts on WWE Monday Night Raw. In December, Osbourne announced he would be releasing a new album titled Soul Sucka with Gus G, Tommy Clufetos
(formerly supporting Rob Zombie
, Ted Nugent
, Alice Cooper
) on drums, and Blasko
(formerly supporting Rob Zombie
) on bass. Negative fan feedback was brought to Osbourne's attention regarding the album title. In respect of fan opinion, on 29 March Osbourne announced his album would be renamed Scream
.
On 13 April 2010, Osbourne announced the release date for Scream would be 15 June 2010. The release date was later changed to 22 June. A single from the album, "Let Me Hear You Scream," debuted on 14 April 2010 episode of CSI: NY
. The song spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Rock Songs, peaking at #7. Other songs from the album include "Let it Die," "Digging Me Down," "Fearless," and "I Want it More."
Osbourne held a Meet-And-Greet album signing at the main branch of HMV in his home-town Birmingham, followed later that day by an intimate show in the Birmingham Town Hall. The first four hundred fans that arrived at the store earlier in the day were given wrist bands, enabling free access to the show.
On 9 August, Ozzy announced that the second single from the album would be "Life Won't Wait" and the video for the song would be directed by his son Jack
.
When asked of his opinions on Scream in an interview, Osbourne announced that he is "already thinking about the next album". Osbourne's current drummer, Tommy Clufetos, has reflected this sentiment, saying that ""We are already coming up with new ideas backstage, in the hotel rooms and at soundcheck and have a bunch of ideas recorded"
club Whisky a Go Go
that the original Black Sabbath line up of Ozzy, Tony Iommi
, Geezer Butler
, and Bill Ward
would reunite for a world tour and new album, which will be produced by Rick Rubin
.
, a series featuring the domestic life of Osbourne and his family (wife Sharon, children Jack and Kelly and occasional appearances from his son Louis, but not their eldest daughter Aimee, who declined to participate). The program became one of MTV's greatest hits. It premiered on 5 March 2002, and the final episode aired 21 March 2005. To this day Osbourne refuses to watch any episodes, claiming he was stoned during the entire filming.
The success of The Osbournes led Osbourne and the rest of his family the opportunity to host the 30th Annual American Music Awards
in January 2003. The night was marked with constant "bleeping" due to some of the lewd and raunchy remarks made by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Presenter Patricia Heaton
walked out midway in disgust.
Ozzy Osbourne appears in a commercial for the online video game World of Warcraft
.
Osbourne is a supporter of English association football club Aston Villa
, as he grew up in the Aston
area close to Villa Park
.
Osbourne published a humorous autobiography in October 2009, titled I Am Ozzy
. Osbourne says ghost writer Chris Ayres told the singer he has enough material for a second book. A movie adaptation of I Am Ozzy is also in the works, and Osbourne says he hopes "an unknown guy from England" will get the role over an established actor. Meanwhile, his son Jack is working on a documentary about Osbourne's life and career.
Osbourne also made an appearance at the 30 October 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington D.C.
Ozzy Osbourne has been awarded several times for his contributions to the music community.
In 1994, he was awarded a Grammy Award
for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from Live & Loud for Best Metal Performance
of 1994
.
In 2004, he received an NME
award for "godlike genius".
In 2005, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame
along with the other members of Black Sabbath. Osbourne mooned
the crowd because of the poor reception given the band while they were playing.
In 2006 was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath band mates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler.
In 2007, Osbourne was honoured at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors
, along with Genesis
, Heart
, and ZZ Top
. In addition, that year a bronze star honouring Osbourne was placed on Broad Street in Birmingham, England while Osbourne watched. On 18 May Osbourne had received notice that he would be the first inductee into The Birmingham Walk of Stars. He was presented the award by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. "I am really honoured," he said, "All my family is here and I thank everyone for this reception – I'm absolutely knocked out".
In 2008, Osbourne was crowned with the prestigious Living Legend award in the Classic Rock Roll of Honor. Past recipients include Alice Cooper
, Lemmy, Jimmy Page
. Slash
, the former Guns N' Roses
guitarist, presented the award.
In 2010, Osbourne won the "Literary Achievement" honour for his memoir, I Am Ozzy, at the Guys Choice Awards at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. Osbourne was presented with the award by Sir Ben Kingsley
. The book debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times' hardcover non-fiction best-seller list.
Osbourne was also a judge for the 6th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
He later married Sharon Arden
and had three children with her. They are Aimee Osbourne
(2 September 1983), Kelly Osbourne
(27 October 1984) and Jack Osbourne
(8 November 1985). They also took in family friend Robert Marcato
after his mother died, but never legally adopted him. Osbourne also has four grandchildren, granddaughter Isabelle and grandson Harry from Jessica, and granddaughter Mia and grandson Elijah from Louis. He wrote a song for his daughter Aimee, which appeared as a B-side on the album Ozzmosis
. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Buckinghamshire
.
It was reported by the New York Times in 1992 that Osbourne was a member of the Church of England
and prayed before each show.
In 2002, Osbourne and wife Sharon were invited to the White House Correspondents' Association
dinner by Fox News Channel
correspondent Greta Van Susteren
for that year's event. President Bush noted Osbourne's presence by joking: "The thing about Ozzy is, he's made a lot of big hit recordings – 'Party with the Animals', 'Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath', 'Facing Hell', 'Black Skies' and 'Bloodbath in Paradise'. Ozzy, Mom
loves your stuff."
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are one of the UK's richest couples, according to the Sunday Times Rich List
. They ranked at number 458 in 2005, with an estimated £
100 million earned from recording, touring and TV shows.
Upon being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne spent the next three months locked in his hotel room taking vast amounts of drugs and alcohol all day, every day. He claims that he would certainly have died if his future wife Sharon Osbourne (formerly Sharon Arden), had not offered to manage him as a solo artist.
In 1982 while wearing his future wife Sharon's dress because she had hidden his clothes, Osbourne drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph
erected in honour of those who died at the Alamo
in Texas, across the street from the actual building
. A police officer arrested him, and Osbourne was subsequently banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade. He was later arrested May 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee
, again for public intoxication.
In 1984, Osbourne toured with Mötley Crüe
. The tour is known as one of the "craziest drug and alcohol-fuelled tours in the history of rock and roll". It is rumoured that while heavily intoxicated, Osbourne snorted a line of ants, in competition with Nikki Sixx
of Mötley Crüe, who had set fire to himself the night before.
Osbourne experienced tremors for some years and linked them to his continuous drug abuse. In May 2005 he found out it was actually Parkin Syndrome
, a genetic condition, the symptoms of which are very similar to Parkinson's disease
. Osbourne will have to take daily medication for the rest of his life to combat the involuntary shudders associated with the condition. Osbourne has also shown symptoms of mild hearing loss, as depicted in the television show, The Osbournes, where he often asks his family to repeat what they say. At the TEDMED Conference
in October 2010, scientists from Knome
joined Osbourne on stage to discuss their analysis of Osbourne’s whole genome, which shed light on how the famously hard-living rocker has survived decades of drug abuse.
. At least one scholar, Christopher M. Moreman, has compared the controversy surrounding Osbourne and accusations of Satanism to those levelled against the renowned occultist Aleister Crowley
. Both were demonised by the media and some religious groups for their antics. Osbourne tempts the comparison with his song "Mr. Crowley
". Both Osbourne and Crowley enjoyed the infamy of being labelled Satanists, though Osbourne firmly denies the charge. Some critics condemn both men as anti-Christian.
In 1981, after signing his first solo career record deal, Osbourne bit the head off a dove during a meeting with some record-company executives in Los Angeles. Apparently he had planned to release doves into the air as a sign of peace, but due to being intoxicated at the time, he instead grabbed a dove and bit its head off. He then spat the head out, with blood still dripping from his lips. Despite its controversy, this act has been parodied and alluded to several times throughout his career and is part of what made Ozzy Osbourne famous.
On 20 January 1982, Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium
in Des Moines, Iowa
. Rolling Stone
magazine in 2004 ranked this incident number two on its list of "Rock's Wildest Myths." While the Rolling Stone article stated the bat was alive, the teen who threw it onto the stage said it was brought to the show dead. According to Osbourne himself in the booklet to the 2002 edition of Diary of a Madman
, the bat was not only alive but also managed to bite him, resulting in his having to take rabies shots.
In 1985, California teenager John McCollum committed suicide while listening to Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution
." The song deals with the dangers of alcohol abuse. McCollum's suicide led to allegations that Osbourne promoted suicide in his songs. Despite knowing McCollum suffered clinical depression, his parents sued Ozzy Osbourne (McCollum v. CBS) for their son's death, claiming the lyrics in the song, "Where to hide, suicide is the only way out. Don't you know what it's really about?" convinced McCollum to commit suicide. The family's lawyer suggested that Osbourne should be criminally charged for encouraging a young person to commit suicide, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour, saying there was no connection between the song and McCollum's suicide. Osbourne was sued for the same reason in 1991 (Waller v. Osbourne), by the parents of Michael Waller, for $9 million, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour in that case as well. One critic claims that Osbourne sings "Get the gun, get the gun, shoot, shoot, shoot," a charge firmly denied by him.
In lawsuits filed in 2000 and 2002 which were dismissed by the courts in 2003, former session musicians Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, and Phil Soussan claimed that Osbourne was delinquent in paying them royalties and had denied them due credit on albums they played on. In November 2003, a Federal Appeals Court unanimously upheld the dismissal by the United States District Court in Los Angeles of the lawsuit brought by Daisley and Kerslake. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Osbourne does not owe any royalties or credit to the former session musicians, who were let go in 1981. To resolve further issues, management chose to replace Daisley and Kerslake's contributions on the original masters, replacing them with Robert Trujillo
on bass and Mike Bordin
on drums. The albums were then reissued.
In July 2010, Osbourne and Iommi decided to discontinue the court proceedings over ownership of the Black Sabbath trademark. As reported to Blabbermouth, "Both parties are glad to put this behind them and to cooperate together for the future and would like it to be known that the issue was never personal, it was always business."
Recording timeline
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal genre.
In his subsequent solo career Osbourne achieved a multi-platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
status in addition to the one he had earned with Black Sabbath. These things are what led Osbourne to become known as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal". It was during his Sabbath days that, due to their dark style of music, Osbourne became known as the "Prince of Darkness". Osbourne has over 15 tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s, the most famous of which are the letters O-Z-Z-Y across the knuckles of his left hand. This was his first tattoo, created by himself as a teenager with a sewing needle
Sewing needle
A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needles were made of bone or wood; modern ones are manufactured from high carbon steel wire, nickel- or 18K gold plated for corrosion resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and...
and pencil lead.
In the early 2000s, Osbourne's career expanded to a new medium when he became a star in his own reality show, The Osbournes
The Osbournes
The Osbournes is an American reality television program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family. The series premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002, and in its first season, was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV...
, alongside wife/manager Sharon
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
and two of their three children, Kelly
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne is an English media personality, television personality, host, judge, fashion designer, singer, and actress, best known for being the daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne...
and Jack
Jack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.-Early life and family:...
. A documentary about his life and career, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, premiered in April 2011 at the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
and will be released on DVD in November 2011. As of December 2010, Osbourne has sold over 100 million albums worldwide both as a solo artist and a member of Black Sabbath.
Early life
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne was born in AstonAston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
, Birmingham, England, on 3 December 1948. His father Jack worked shifts as a toolmaker at GEC. His mother Lillian worked for the car components firm Lucas
Lucas Industries plc
Lucas Industries plc was a famous British manufacturer of components for the motor industry and aerospace industry. It was based in Birmingham. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
. John was the fourth of six children. Ozzy had two brothers (Paul and Tony) and three sisters (Jean, Iris and Gillian); they lived in a small two bedroom home at 14 Lodge Road in Aston. The nickname "Ozzy" was first used when he was in primary school. Although called "John" by his first wife Thelma, Osbourne states that it has been a long time since he's recognised himself when called by his formal name. Osbourne grew up dealing with dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
and other learning disabilities. General abuse from teachers at Prince Albert Road Junior School, and Birchfield Road Secondary Modern School
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
in Perry Barr
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is an inner-city area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Perry Barr ward and the wards of Handsworth Wood, Lozells and East Handsworth, and Oscott, which elect three councillors to...
made his childhood difficult for him. Drawn to the stage, Osbourne took part in school plays such as The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. Upon hearing their first hit single at age 14, he became a great fan of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. He left school at 15 and was then employed as a construction site labourer, trainee plumber
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...
, apprentice toolmaker, car factory horn-tuner and slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
worker. He spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison
Birmingham (HM Prison)
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B/C men's prison, located in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England. The prison was formally operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service...
when he was unable to pay a fine after being found guilty of burglary of a clothes shop.
In late 1967, Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
formed his first band "Rare Breed" with Osbourne. The band played two shows then broke up. Separated for a time, Osbourne and Butler reunited in Polka Tulk Blues along with guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
and drummer Bill Ward. They renamed themselves Earth, but after being booked in error instead of a small-time English circuit band with the same name, they decided to change their name again. They finally chose the name Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
in early 1969 based on a film
Black Sabbath (film)
The motion picture Black Sabbath, whose Italian title, I Tre volti della paura, translates as The Three Faces of Fear, is a 1963 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava. Boris Karloff, in addition to appearing in the linking passages, has a role in "The Wurdalak" segment...
directed by Mario Bava
Mario Bava
Mario Bava was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.-Biography:Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy...
, starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. The band had noticed how people enjoyed being frightened, and, inspired, Iommi and his partners decided to play a heavy blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
style of music laced with gloomy sounds and lyrics. While recording their first album in a castle, Geezer read an occult book and had a dream of a dark figure at the end of his bed. Butler told Osbourne about the dream and together they wrote the lyrics to "Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath (song)
"Black Sabbath" is a song by British heavy metal band of the same name, written in 1969 and released on the band's debut album, Black Sabbath...
", one of their first songs in a darker vein.
Black Sabbath
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success. Built around Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, Geezer Butler's lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, Bill Ward's dark tempo drumbeats, and topped by Osbourne's eerie vocals, early records such as their debut album Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath (album)
Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 13 February 1970 in the United Kingdom, and later on 1 June 1970 in the United States, the album reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and has been recognised as the first main album to be credited...
and Paranoid
Paranoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...
sold huge numbers, as well as getting considerable airplay. Osbourne recalls a band lament, "in those days, the band wasn't very popular with the women."
Just five months after the release of Paranoid the band released Master of Reality
Master of Reality
Master of Reality is the third album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in July 1971. It is sometimes noted as the first stoner rock album...
. The album reached the top ten in both the US and UK, and was certified gold in less than two months. In the 1980s it received platinum certification and went Double Platinum in the early 21st century. Reviews of the album were unfavorable. Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
dismissed Master of Reality as "naïve, simplistic, repetitive, absolute doggerel", although the very same magazine would later place the album at number 298 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, compiled in 2003. Black Sabbath's Volume 4 was released in September 1972. Critics were again dismissive of the album, yet it achieved gold status in less than a month. It was the band's fourth consecutive release to sell a million copies in the US. In November 1973, Black Sabbath released the critically acclaimed Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is the fifth studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in December 1973. With this album, the band expanded upon their slow, crunching style of music by strings, keyboards and more complex orchestral arrangements.-Recording:Following the 1972–1973...
. For the first time, the band received favourable reviews in the mainstream press. Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone called the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair", and "nothing less than a complete success". AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia call the album a "masterpiece, essential to any heavy metal collection," while also claiming the band displayed "a newfound sense of finesse and maturity". The album marked the band's fifth consecutive platinum selling album in the US. Sabotage was released in July 1975. Again there were favourable reviews. Rolling Stone stated, "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever." Allmusic was not so favourable. They noted that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Volume 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate". Technical Ecstasy
Technical Ecstasy
- Personnel :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Tony Iommi – guitar* Geezer Butler – bass guitar* Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "It's Alright"* Gerald Woodruffe – keyboards- Release history :-Other resources:...
, released on 25 September 1976, was also met with mixed reviews. AllMusic gave the album two stars, and noted that the band was "unravelling at an alarming rate".
Departure from Black Sabbath
In 1978, Osbourne left the band for three months to pursue interest in a solo project he called Blizzard of Ozz. Three members of the band NecromandusNecromandus
Necromandus were a rock band from Cumberland, United Kingdom. They were formed in 1970 and were discovered by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath in 1972. After recording one album in 1973, they split up. The album was not released until 1999. In 2007 they were mentioned in an article in Classic Rock...
, who had supported Black Sabbath in Birmingham when they were called Earth, did backup for Osbourne in the studio and briefly became the first incarnation of his solo band. At the request of the other members, Osbourne rejoined Sabbath. The band spent five months at Sounds Interchange Studios in Toronto, Canada, writing and recording what would become Never Say Die!
Never Say Die!
-Band:*Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals*Tony Iommi – guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Geezer Butler – bass guitar, backing vocals on "A Hard Road"*Bill Ward – drums, lead vocals on "Swinging the Chain", backing vocals on "A Hard Road"-Additional musicians:...
"It took quite a long time," Iommi said. "We were getting really drugged out, doing a lot of dope. We'd go down to the sessions, and have to pack up because we were too stoned, we'd have to stop. Nobody could get anything right, we were all over the place, everybody's playing a different thing. We'd go back and sleep it off, and try again the next day." Touring in support of Never Say Die! began in May 1978 with openers Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
. Reviewers called Black Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired", in stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time. The band filmed a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in June 1978, which was later released on DVD as Never Say Die. The final show of the tour, and Osbourne's last appearance with the band (until later reunions) was in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
on 11 December.
In 1979, back in the studio tensions and conflict were present continually. Osbourne recalls being asked to record his vocals over and over, and tracks being manipulated endlessly by Iommi. This was a point of contention between Osbourne and Iommi. With the support of Geezer and Bill Ward, Osbourne was again fired from Black Sabbath. The reasons provided to him were that he was unreliable and had excessive substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
issues as compared to the other band members. Osbourne claims his drug use and alcohol consumption at that time were no better nor worse than that of the other band members.
Conflict of a sort had existed between Iommi and Osbourne from the beginning. When responding to a flyer reading "Ozzy Zig Needs Gig- has own PA" posted in a record store, Iommi and Ward arrived at the address listed to speak with Ozzy Zig. When Osbourne answered the door, Iommi left upon discovering it was him. He knew of and disliked Osbourne from back in their school days. The band replaced him with former Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
singer Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
.
Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman
In 1980, under the management of Osbourne's then girlfriend (later wife), Sharon ArdenSharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
, the Ozzy Osbourne Band formed again as The Blizzard of Ozz. The first line-up of the band featured drummer Lee Kerslake
Lee Kerslake
Lee Kerslake is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep, in addition to his work in the Ozzy Osbourne band...
(of Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
), bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley
Bob Daisley
Robert John "Bob" Daisley is an Australian musician, bassist and lyricist who has performed in genres of rock, blues, R&B, hard rock and metal.-Early career:...
(of Rainbow and later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey
Don Airey
Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
, and guitarist Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...
(of Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...
). The record company would eventually title the record Blizzard of Ozz
Blizzard of Ozz
Blizzard of Ozz is the first solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, UK and released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the U.S.. It is the comeback album of Osbourne following his firing from Black Sabbath the previous year...
credited simply under Osbourne's name. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, the album brought Osbourne considerable success on his first solo effort. The debut sold very well with hard rock/heavy metal fans.
Blizzard of Ozz is one of the very few albums amongst the 100 best selling albums of the 1980s to have achieved multi-platinum status without the benefit of a Top 40 single. As of August 1997, it achieved Quadruple Platinum status according to RIAA. The album is known for the globally recognised singles "Crazy Train
Crazy Train
"Crazy Train" is a song written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. It was released as the first single in 1980 on Osbourne's first solo studio album, Blizzard of Ozz. The song was recorded in 1980, a year after leaving Black Sabbath, and later included on the live album Tribute,...
" and "Mr. Crowley
Mr. Crowley
"Mr Crowley" is a 1980 heavy metal song performed by Ozzy Osbourne, released on the album Blizzard of Ozz, Osbourne's first solo effort following his firing from Black Sabbath. It peaked at number 46 on the United Kingdom charts. Musicians playing on the song are guitarist Randy Rhoads, bass...
", and fan favourites "Goodbye to Romance" and "Revelation (Mother Earth)". Although Kerslake and Daisley are credited as the studio musicians for The Blizzard of Ozz, the touring band in support of the album consisted of Osbourne, Rhoads, Rudy Sarzo
Rudy Sarzo
Rudy Sarzo is a Cuban American hard rock/heavy metal bassist. Sarzo has played with many well known heavy metal acts including Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Manic Eden, Dio and Blue Öyster Cult.-Early life:...
(Bass) and Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge is a veteran heavy metal and hard rock drummer. Aldridge is noted for his work with numerous bands and vocalists, most notable being Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.Self taught, Aldridge was inspired by Cream,...
(Drums).
Osbourne's second album, Diary of a Madman
Diary of a Madman (album)
Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was recorded from the 9th of Feb to the 23 of March 1981 inclusively - the end of winter in the UK and recording ending just into spring equinox. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered...
featured more songs co-written with Bob Daisley. For his work on this album and his first
Blizzard of Ozz
Blizzard of Ozz is the first solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, UK and released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the U.S.. It is the comeback album of Osbourne following his firing from Black Sabbath the previous year...
, Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...
, was ranked the 85th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003. This album is known for the singles "Over the Mountain" and "Flying High Again"; additionally, Osbourne explains in his autobiography that Diary is his own personal favourite album.
On 19 March 1982 while Rhoads was in Florida for the follow-up Diary of a Madman tour, and a week away from playing Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York City, a light aircraft piloted by Andrew Aycock (the band's tour bus driver) carrying guitarist Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...
crashed while performing low passes over the band's tour bus. In a prank turned deadly, the right wing of the aircraft clipped the bus, grazed a tree, and crashed into the attached garage of a nearby mansion killing Rhoads, Aycock, and the band's hairdresser, Rachel Youngblood. On autopsy, cocaine was found to be present in Aycock's urine. Experiencing firsthand the horrific death of his close friend and band mate, Osbourne fell into a deep depression.
Ex-Gillan
Gillan
Gillan was a rock band formed in 1978 by Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan.-History:In 1978 Ian Gillan had become dissatisfied with the jazz fusion style of his band called the Ian Gillan Band and dissolved it, retaining only keyboard player Colin Towns, and formed a new band entitled Gillan...
guitarist Bernie Torme
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé is a rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner.-Early career:...
was the first guitarist to replace Randy once the tour resumed. Torme's tenure with the band would last less than one month. During an audition for guitarists in a hotel room, Osbourne selected Brad Gillis
Brad Gillis
Brad Gillis is a guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. He has also played for Ozzy Osbourne and Fiona, and has released solo albums....
(who went on to be one of two guitarists in Night Ranger
Night Ranger
Night Ranger is an American rock band from San Francisco that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. The band's first five albums sold more than 10 million copies worldwide...
) to finish the tour. The tour culminated in the release of the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil recorded at the Ritz in New York City. A live tribute album for Rhoads was also later released.
Speak of the Devil
Despite the difficulties, Osbourne moved on after Rhoads' death. Speak of the Devil, known in the United Kingdom as Talk of the Devil, was originally planned to consist of live recordings from 1981, primarily from Osbourne's solo work. Under contract to produce a live album, it ended up consisting entirely of Black Sabbath covers recorded with Brad GillisBrad Gillis
Brad Gillis is a guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. He has also played for Ozzy Osbourne and Fiona, and has released solo albums....
, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Osbourne later commented (inside the cover of "Tribute") "I don't give a fuck about that album. It was just a bunch of bullshit Sabbath covers."
In 1982, Osbourne appeared as lead vocalist on the Was (Not Was)
Was (Not Was)
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...
pop dance track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)
Shake Your Head
"Shake Your Head" is a song by the band Was . It was originally released in 1983 on the album Born to Laugh at Tornadoes.The original version features legendary Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne on lead vocals...
." Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
performed backing vocals. Osbourne's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (Not Was) greatest hits album in Europe, and it cracked the UK pop chart. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
were added to complement Osbourne's lead.
Bark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin and No Rest for the Wicked
In 1983 a new guitarist was recruited to play with Osbourne. Jake E. LeeJake E. Lee
Jakey Lou Williams , commonly known as Jake E. Lee, is an American guitarist best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne in the mid-1980s and later in his own band Badlands.- Musical education :...
, formerly of Ratt
Ratt
Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
and Rough Cutt
Rough Cutt
Rough Cutt was an American heavy metal band from San Diego, California in the 1980s. They were based in Los Angeles after signing a recording contract with Warner Brothers...
, joined the band to record Bark at the Moon
Bark at the Moon
- Credits :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Jake E. Lee – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass guitar* Tommy Aldridge – drums* Don Airey – keyboardsProduction* Produced by Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Daisley, and Max Norman* Engineered by Max Norman...
. The album, co-written with Bob Daisley, featured Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge
Tommy Aldridge is a veteran heavy metal and hard rock drummer. Aldridge is noted for his work with numerous bands and vocalists, most notable being Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.Self taught, Aldridge was inspired by Cream,...
, and former Rainbow keyboard player Don Airey. The album contains the fan favourite "Bark at the Moon". The music video for "Bark at the Moon" was partially filmed at the Holloway Sanitorium outside of London, England. Within weeks the album became certified gold. To date it has sold three million copies in the U.S.
1986's The Ultimate Sin
The Ultimate Sin
-Personnel:*Ozzy Osbourne - vocals*Jake E. Lee - guitar*Phil Soussan - bass*Randy Castillo - drumsAdditional performers*Mike Moran - keyboardsProduction*Produced and engineered by Ron Nevison*Additional engineers - Martin White, Richard Moakes...
followed (with bassist Phil Soussan
Phil Soussan
Phil Soussan is a bass guitarist, songwriter and producer who has gained notoriety as a member of a host of famed rock and roll bands, including some who have been fronted by such vocalists as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Johnny Hallyday and John Waite, as well as a membership in Beggars...
and drummer Randy Castillo
Randy Castillo
Randolpho Francisco Castillo was best known as Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999-2002.-Early years:...
), and touring behind both albums with ex-Uriah Heep keyboardist John Sinclair joining prior to the Ultimate Sin tour. A rich, bold album, it features "Shot in the Dark" and fan favourites "Killer of Giants", "Lightning Strikes", and "Secret Loser". At the time of its release, The Ultimate Sin was Osbourne's highest charting studio album. The RIAA awarded the album Platinum status on 14 May 1986, soon after its release; it was awarded Double Platinum status on 26 October 1994.
Jake E. Lee and Osbourne parted ways in 1987. Osbourne continued to struggle with chemical dependency. That year he commemorated the fifth anniversary of Rhoads' death with Tribute, live recordings from 1981 that had gone unreleased for years. In 1988, Osbourne appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization II
The Decline of Western Civilization II
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years is a documentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris about the Los Angeles heavy metal scene from 1986 to 1988. It is the second film of a trilogy by Spheeris depicting life in Los Angeles at various points in time. The first film The...
: The Metal Years and told the director, Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris
Penelope Spheeris is an American director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known as a documentary film director whose works include the trilogy titled The Decline of Western Civilization...
, that "sobriety fucking sucks." Meanwhile, Osbourne found Zakk Wylde
Zakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, who was the most enduring replacement for Rhoads to date. Together they recorded No Rest for the Wicked with Castillo on drums, Sinclair on keyboards, and Daisley co-writing lyrics and playing bass. The subsequent tour saw Osbourne reunited with erstwhile Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler on bass. A live EP (entitled Just Say Ozzy
Just Say Ozzy
Just Say Ozzy is a live album by Ozzy Osbourne. Released on March 17, 1990 and it was re-issued on August 22, 1995. It contains the track "Shot in the Dark", first recorded in the Jake E...
) featuring Geezer was released two years later. Butler continued to tour with Osbourne for the subsequent four tours, and was a major stage presence throughout. In 1989, Ozzy Osbourne performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival
Moscow Music Peace Festival
The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a one-time gathering of high-profile hard rock acts for a performance in Moscow, Soviet Union on 12 and 13 August 1989 to promote world peace and establish international cooperation in fighting the drug war in Russia. It was part of an era of momentous change in...
.
No More Tears
While very successful as a heavy metal act through the 1980s, Osbourne sustained commercial success into the 1990s, starting with 1991's No More TearsNo More Tears
- 2002 Reissue :- Personnel :Musicians* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Zakk Wylde – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass* Randy Castillo – drums* John Sinclair – keyboards, pianoAdditional personnel* Mike Inez – inspiration, musical direction...
. The album enjoyed much radio and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
exposure. It also initiated a practice of bringing in outside composers to help pen Osbourne's solo material instead of relying solely upon his recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. The album was mixed by veteran rock producer Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener is a music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, Germany, best known for his work with many top hard rock and heavy metal bands in the late 80's. Wagener's works have sold over ninetyfour million albums worldwide. Wagener was the original guitarist for the German band Accept...
. Osbourne was awarded his only Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from live album Live and Loud
Live and Loud
Live & Loud is a live album recorded by Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 28 June 1993 . At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album....
for Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre...
of 1994
Grammy Awards of 1994
The 36th Grammy Awards were held in 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston is the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
.
Wagener also mixed the live album Live and Loud
Live and Loud
Live & Loud is a live album recorded by Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 28 June 1993 . At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album....
released in 28 June 1993. At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album. The album went platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
four times over, and ranked at number 10 on that year's Billboard rock charts.
At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement tour" (which was to be short-lived). It was comically called "No More Tours", a pun on his No More Tears album. Prior to the tour Mike Inez
Mike Inez
Mike Inez is a rock musician best known for his role as the bassist of Alice in Chains. Inez has also worked with other popular musical acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, and Heart. Inez is of Filipino ancestry.-Career:...
took over on bass and Kevin Jones on keyboards as Sinclair was touring with The Cult. Osbourne's entire CD catalogue was remastered and reissued in 1995.
Ozzmosis
In 1995, Osbourne released OzzmosisOzzmosis
-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitar*Geezer Butler – bass*Deen Castronovo – drums*Rick Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Michael Beinhorn – production, keyboards...
and returned to touring, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". The album reached number 4 on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold and platinum in that same year, and double platinum in April 1999. The album features the hard rocking fan favourites "Perry Mason", "Ghost Behind My Eyes", "Thunder Underground", and the power ballad "See You on the Other Side".
The line-up on Ozzmosis was Zakk Wylde
Zakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
(who had just quit Black Sabbath again) and ex-Bad English
Bad English
Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1988, reuniting keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in The Babys.- History :...
, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
and Hardline
Hardline
In politics, hardline refers to the doctrine, policy, and posturing of a government or political body as being absolutist and sometimes authoritarian. The hardline position is usually extremist and uncompromising....
drummer Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo
Deen Castronovo is an Italian American drummer who has played in various bands, including Kandles at Nine, Cacophony, Bad English, Journey, The Enemy, Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind, Hardline, Planet Us, Soul Sirkus, Social Distortion, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's G/Z/R, as well as in...
, now in Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
. Keyboards were played by Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
s Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
and producer Michael Beinhorn. The tour maintained Butler and Castronovo and saw Sinclair return, but a major line-up change was the introduction of ex-David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
guitarist Joe Holmes
Joe Holmes
Joe Holmes is a Heavy metal guitarist. Born in New Jersey, he took lessons from guitarist Randy Rhoads in 1979. Holmes formed the L.A based band called Terriff in 1983. Holmes left Terriff to join Lizzy Borden in 1987...
. Wylde was considering an offer to join Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. Unable to wait for a decision on Wylde's departure decision, Osbourne replaced him. In early 1996, Butler and Castronovo left. Mike Inez (Alice In Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
) and Randy Castillo
Randy Castillo
Randolpho Francisco Castillo was best known as Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999-2002.-Early years:...
(Lita Ford
Lita Ford
Lita Ford is a British-born, American rock musician and singer who was the lead guitarist for The Runaways and achieved popularity for her solo career between the 1980s and late 2000s.-Early life:...
, Motley Crue
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
) filled in. Ultimately, Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
's Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left...
and ex-Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is a U.S. crossover thrash band founded in 1981 in Venice, Los Angeles, California by Mike Muir, its leader and only permanent member. The band is sometimes credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash"...
bassist Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...
joined on drums and bass respectively. A greatest hits package, The Ozzman Cometh
The Ozzman Cometh
The Ozzman Cometh is a compilation album by Ozzy Osbourne released in 1997. It is his second greatest hits collection and its initial, limited edition 2 CD pressing contained five previously unreleased songs...
was issued in 1997.
Ozzfest
Osbourne's biggest financial success of the 1990s was a venture named OzzfestOzzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
, created and managed by his wife/manager Sharon and assisted by his son Jack
Jack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.-Early life and family:...
. The first Ozzfest was held in Phoenix, Arizona on 25 October 1996 and in Devore, California on 26 October. Ozzfest was an instant hit with metal fans, spiralling many up-and-coming groups who were featured there to broad exposure and commercial success. Some acts shared the bill with a reformed Black Sabbath during the 1997 Ozzfest tour, beginning in West Palm Beach, Florida. Osbourne reunited with the original members of Sabbath in 1997 and has performed periodically with them ever since. Ozzfest reinstated the integrity of, and public familiarity with, the band name Black Sabbath.
Since its start, five million people have attended Ozzfest, which has grossed over US$100 million. The festival also helped promote many new hard rock and heavy metal acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ozzfest helped Osbourne to become the first hard rock and heavy metal star to hit $50 million in merchandise sales.
In 2005, Osbourne and his wife Sharon starred in an MTV competition reality show entitled "Battle for Ozzfest
Battle for Ozzfest
Battle for Ozzfest was a reality TV show aired during autumn of 2004 on MTV, where 8 bands 'battle' it out in a series of challenges to win a spot on the stage of the metal festival Ozzfest, which is a primarily heavy metal-subgenre based music festival...
". A number of yet unsigned bands send one member to compete in a challenge to win a spot on the 2005 Ozzfest and a possible recording contract.
Shortly after Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
2005, Osbourne announced that he will no longer headline Ozzfest. Although he announced his retirement from Ozzfest, Osbourne came back for one more year, 2006, albeit only closing for just over half the concerts, leaving the others to be closed by System of a Down
System of a Down
System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian , Daron Malakian , Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan...
. He also played the closing act for the second stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre
Shoreline Amphitheatre
Shoreline Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater, in Mountain View, California, USA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Inside the venue it has a capacity of 22,500, with 6,500 reserved seats and 16,000 general admission on the lawn...
in Mountain View, CA on 1 July as well as Randall's Island
Randall's Island
Randall's Island is situated in the East River in New York City, part of the borough of Manhattan. It is separated from Manhattan island on the west by the river's main channel, from Queens on the east by the Hell Gate, and from the Bronx on the north by the Bronx Kill. It is joined to Wards...
, NY on 29 July. After the concert in Bristol, Virginia, Osbourne announced he would return for another year of Ozzfest in 2007. Tickets for the 2007 tour were offered to fans free of charge, which led to some controversy. In 2008, Ozzfest was reduced to a one-day event in Dallas, Texas, where Osbourne played, along with Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and King Diamond
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...
.
Osbourne says he is looking forward to the return of Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
for six dates this summer and is also looking at an 18-month world tour starting at The Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
on 29 June to promote his new album, "Scream".
Down to Earth
Down to EarthDown to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album)
-Personnel:Primary musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitars*Robert Trujillo – bass*Mike Bordin – drumsAdditional musicians...
, Osbourne's first album of new studio material in seven years, was released on 16 October 2001. A live version filmed in Japan, Live at Budokan
Live at Budokan (Ozzy Osbourne album)
Live at Budokan is a CD/DVD combination released by heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne on June 25, 2002. It was recorded at the Nippon Budokan Hall on February 15, 2002 in Tokyo, Japan.-CD:#"I Don't Know" – 5:51...
followed. Down to Earth went gold in 2001, and platinum in 2003. The album features the fan favourite "Dreamer," a song which peaked at number 10 on Billboard'
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
. In 2003, Osbourne recruited former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted
Jason Newsted
Jason Curtis Newsted is an American bassist known for his work with Metallica, Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam. Joining Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton's death, Newsted remained a member until 2001, making him the band's longest-serving bassist...
after he left the band in 2000 (and Trujillo replaced him on Metallica's line-up). Both Newsted and Osbourne were enthusiastic about recording an album together.
On 8 December 2003, Osbourne was rushed into emergency surgery at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, England when he had an accident with his all-terrain vehicle
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
on his estate in Jordans, Buckinghamshire. Osbourne broke his collar bone, eight ribs, and a neck vertebra. An operation was performed to lift the collarbone, which was believed to be resting on a major artery and interrupting blood flow to the arm. Sharon later revealed that Osbourne had stopped breathing following the crash and was resuscitated by Osbourne's then personal bodyguard, Sam Ruston. While in hospital, Osbourne achieved his first ever UK number one single, a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad, "Changes" with daughter Kelly. In doing so, he broke the record of the longest period between an artist's first UK chart appearance (with Black Sabbath's "Paranoid
Paranoid (song)
"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
", number four in August 1970) and their first number one hit: a gap of 33 years. Since the quad accident, aside from some short-term memory problems, he fully recovered and headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, in the reunited Black Sabbath.
Prince of Darkness
In 2005, Osbourne released a box set called Prince of Darkness. The first and second discs are collections of live performances, B-sides, demos and singles. The third disc contained duets and other odd tracks with other artists, including "Born to Be WildBorn to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" with Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
. The fourth disc is entirely new material where Osbourne covers his favourite songs by his biggest influences and favourite bands, including The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and others.
Black Rain
In March 2006, he said that he hoped to release a new studio album soon with long time on-off guitarist, Zakk WyldeZakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
of Black Label Society. In October 2006, it was announced that Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice
Vinny Appice
Vincent Samson Appice , also known as Vinny Appice is a rock drummer of American Italian descent and the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice...
, and Geezer Butler would be touring together again, though not as Black Sabbath, but under the moniker Heaven and Hell (the title of Dio's first Black Sabbath album). The response to the news on Osbourne's website was that Osbourne wished Tony and Ronnie well and that there is only one Sabbath.
Osbourne's album, titled Black Rain
Black Rain (Ozzy Osbourne album)
-'Tour Edition' disc 2:- Album sales :Black Rain debuted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 152,000 copies in its first week; making it Osbourne's highest debut to date. It peaked at number 37 on the Australian ARIA Album Chart...
, was released on 22 May 2007. Osbourne's first new studio album in almost six years, it featured a more serious tone than previous albums. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation...But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go (to pieces)'", Osbourne stated in a Billboard interview.
Scream
Osbourne revealed in July 2009 that he was currently seeking a new guitar player. While he states that he has not fallen out with Zakk WyldeZakk Wylde
Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, he said he felt his songs were beginning to sound like Black Label Society
Black Label Society
Black Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...
and fancied a change. In August 2009, Osbourne performed at the gaming festival BlizzCon
BlizzCon
"BlizzCon" is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo...
with a new guitarist in his line-up, Gus G (Firewind
Firewind
Firewind is a Greek power metal band. Formed in 1998, the group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist, Gus G. to showcase his demo, Nocturnal Symphony in 1998. Firewind later became a full band over three years later when they recorded...
, ex-Nightrage
Nightrage
Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band formed by guitarist Marios Iliopoulos and his close friend Gus G. who later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden.-Sweet Vengeance:...
, ex-Dream Evil
Dream Evil
Dream Evil is a heavy metal band from Sweden, assembled and integrated by renowned musical producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999.-Biography:Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone with musical ideals...
).
Osbourne also provided his voice and likeness to the video game Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend is an action-adventure/real-time strategy game created by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America and Europe...
character The Guardian of Metal. In November, Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
featured Osbourne on vocals in his single "Crucify The Dead", and Osbourne with wife Sharon
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
were guest hosts on WWE Monday Night Raw. In December, Osbourne announced he would be releasing a new album titled Soul Sucka with Gus G, Tommy Clufetos
Tommy Clufetos
Tommy Clufetos Currently plays drums for Ozzy Osbourne, and previously played for famous rock artists Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper. He also played drums for Rob Zombie, and was featured on the 2006 album Educated Horses, Zombie's first live release, 2007's Zombie Live and 2010's Hellbilly Deluxe 2...
(formerly supporting Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
, Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
) on drums, and Blasko
Rob Nicholson (musician)
Rob "Blasko" Nicholson is a Heavy metal bassist who was born on November 24, 1969. His influences include the metal bands Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Corrosion of Conformity...
(formerly supporting Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
) on bass. Negative fan feedback was brought to Osbourne's attention regarding the album title. In respect of fan opinion, on 29 March Osbourne announced his album would be renamed Scream
Scream (Ozzy Osbourne album)
-Tour Edition CD2:-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, production*Gus G – guitars*Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass*Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion*Adam Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Kevin Churko – production, engineering, mixing...
.
On 13 April 2010, Osbourne announced the release date for Scream would be 15 June 2010. The release date was later changed to 22 June. A single from the album, "Let Me Hear You Scream," debuted on 14 April 2010 episode of CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
. The song spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Rock Songs, peaking at #7. Other songs from the album include "Let it Die," "Digging Me Down," "Fearless," and "I Want it More."
Osbourne held a Meet-And-Greet album signing at the main branch of HMV in his home-town Birmingham, followed later that day by an intimate show in the Birmingham Town Hall. The first four hundred fans that arrived at the store earlier in the day were given wrist bands, enabling free access to the show.
On 9 August, Ozzy announced that the second single from the album would be "Life Won't Wait" and the video for the song would be directed by his son Jack
Jack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.-Early life and family:...
.
When asked of his opinions on Scream in an interview, Osbourne announced that he is "already thinking about the next album". Osbourne's current drummer, Tommy Clufetos, has reflected this sentiment, saying that ""We are already coming up with new ideas backstage, in the hotel rooms and at soundcheck and have a bunch of ideas recorded"
Reuniting with Black Sabbath
It was announced on 11 November 2011 during a news conference at the Sunset StripSunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
club Whisky a Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
that the original Black Sabbath line up of Ozzy, Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
, Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
, and Bill Ward
Bill Ward
William Thomas "Bill" Ward is an English musician, best known as the original drummer for the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath....
would reunite for a world tour and new album, which will be produced by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
.
Other work
Osbourne achieved greater celebrity status via the unlikely success of his own brand of reality television. The OsbournesThe Osbournes
The Osbournes is an American reality television program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family. The series premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002, and in its first season, was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV...
, a series featuring the domestic life of Osbourne and his family (wife Sharon, children Jack and Kelly and occasional appearances from his son Louis, but not their eldest daughter Aimee, who declined to participate). The program became one of MTV's greatest hits. It premiered on 5 March 2002, and the final episode aired 21 March 2005. To this day Osbourne refuses to watch any episodes, claiming he was stoned during the entire filming.
The success of The Osbournes led Osbourne and the rest of his family the opportunity to host the 30th Annual American Music Awards
American Music Awards
-Conception:The AMAs were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC...
in January 2003. The night was marked with constant "bleeping" due to some of the lewd and raunchy remarks made by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Presenter Patricia Heaton
Patricia Heaton
Patricia Helen Heaton is an American actress, comedienne, producer and model, best known for portraying Debra Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996 to 2005, for which she won two Emmy Awards....
walked out midway in disgust.
Ozzy Osbourne appears in a commercial for the online video game World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
.
Osbourne is a supporter of English association football club Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
, as he grew up in the Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
area close to Villa Park
Villa Park
Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...
.
Osbourne published a humorous autobiography in October 2009, titled I Am Ozzy
I Am Ozzy
I Am Ozzy is the autobiography of Ozzy Osbourne, vocalist of Black Sabbath and solo singer. It chronicles his life, beginning as a child, followed by his career as a vocalist. The book is 416 pages long. The book was widely praised by its readers for its level of detail, and humor. It currently...
. Osbourne says ghost writer Chris Ayres told the singer he has enough material for a second book. A movie adaptation of I Am Ozzy is also in the works, and Osbourne says he hopes "an unknown guy from England" will get the role over an established actor. Meanwhile, his son Jack is working on a documentary about Osbourne's life and career.
Osbourne also made an appearance at the 30 October 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington D.C.
Awards
In 1994, he was awarded a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from Live & Loud for Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre...
of 1994
Grammy Awards of 1994
The 36th Grammy Awards were held in 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston is the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
.
In 2004, he received an NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
award for "godlike genius".
In 2005, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
along with the other members of Black Sabbath. Osbourne mooned
Mooning
Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, whether also exposing the genitals or not...
the crowd because of the poor reception given the band while they were playing.
In 2006 was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath band mates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler.
In 2007, Osbourne was honoured at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors
VH1 Rock Honors
The VH1 Rock Honors were an annual ceremony paying homage to bands who influenced the sound of rock music. The events began in 2006, and the final event took place in 2008. The general format of each show is for modern bands to "pay tribute" to classic greats of the rock/metal world , after which...
, along with Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. In addition, that year a bronze star honouring Osbourne was placed on Broad Street in Birmingham, England while Osbourne watched. On 18 May Osbourne had received notice that he would be the first inductee into The Birmingham Walk of Stars. He was presented the award by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. "I am really honoured," he said, "All my family is here and I thank everyone for this reception – I'm absolutely knocked out".
In 2008, Osbourne was crowned with the prestigious Living Legend award in the Classic Rock Roll of Honor. Past recipients include Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Lemmy, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
. Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, the former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
guitarist, presented the award.
In 2010, Osbourne won the "Literary Achievement" honour for his memoir, I Am Ozzy, at the Guys Choice Awards at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. Osbourne was presented with the award by Sir Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
. The book debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times' hardcover non-fiction best-seller list.
Osbourne was also a judge for the 6th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Marriages and family
Osbourne has been married twice and is the father of six children (five biological, and one adopted). He was first married to Thelma Riley (now a teacher in Leicestershire) and adopted her son, Elliot Kingsley (1966); together they had Jessica Starshine Osbourne Hobbs (20 January 1972) and Louis John Osbourne (1975).He later married Sharon Arden
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
and had three children with her. They are Aimee Osbourne
Aimee Osbourne
Aimee Rachel Osbourne is an English singer, actress, and columnist. She is the third child of singer Ozzy Osbourne and the first child to Ozzy's second wife Sharon...
(2 September 1983), Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Michelle Lee Osbourne is an English media personality, television personality, host, judge, fashion designer, singer, and actress, best known for being the daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne...
(27 October 1984) and Jack Osbourne
Jack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.-Early life and family:...
(8 November 1985). They also took in family friend Robert Marcato
Robert Marcato
Robert Marcato was a cast member for three seasons on the American reality show The Osbournes. He was a family friend whom Sharon took in after his mother died of cancer in 2002. He was introduced as a school friend of Osbourne daughters Kelly and Aimee, though on the show he hung out mostly with...
after his mother died, but never legally adopted him. Osbourne also has four grandchildren, granddaughter Isabelle and grandson Harry from Jessica, and granddaughter Mia and grandson Elijah from Louis. He wrote a song for his daughter Aimee, which appeared as a B-side on the album Ozzmosis
Ozzmosis
-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitar*Geezer Butler – bass*Deen Castronovo – drums*Rick Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Michael Beinhorn – production, keyboards...
. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
It was reported by the New York Times in 1992 that Osbourne was a member of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and prayed before each show.
In 2002, Osbourne and wife Sharon were invited to the White House Correspondents' Association
White House Correspondents' Association
The White House Correspondents' Association is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States. The WHCA was founded in 1914 by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a Congressional committee would select which journalists could attend...
dinner by Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
correspondent Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren is an American commentator and television personality on the Fox News Channel, where she hosts On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren...
for that year's event. President Bush noted Osbourne's presence by joking: "The thing about Ozzy is, he's made a lot of big hit recordings – 'Party with the Animals', 'Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath', 'Facing Hell', 'Black Skies' and 'Bloodbath in Paradise'. Ozzy, Mom
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
loves your stuff."
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are one of the UK's richest couples, according to the Sunday Times Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...
. They ranked at number 458 in 2005, with an estimated £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100 million earned from recording, touring and TV shows.
Drug and alcohol abuse
Osbourne has abused drugs and alcohol for most of his life. Although clean and sober now, Osbourne has frequently commented on his former wild lifestyle, puzzled at how he has survived 40 years of abuse.Upon being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne spent the next three months locked in his hotel room taking vast amounts of drugs and alcohol all day, every day. He claims that he would certainly have died if his future wife Sharon Osbourne (formerly Sharon Arden), had not offered to manage him as a solo artist.
In 1982 while wearing his future wife Sharon's dress because she had hidden his clothes, Osbourne drunkenly urinated on a cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
erected in honour of those who died at the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
in Texas, across the street from the actual building
Alamo Mission in San Antonio
The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and now a museum, in San Antonio, Texas....
. A police officer arrested him, and Osbourne was subsequently banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade. He was later arrested May 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, again for public intoxication.
In 1984, Osbourne toured with Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
. The tour is known as one of the "craziest drug and alcohol-fuelled tours in the history of rock and roll". It is rumoured that while heavily intoxicated, Osbourne snorted a line of ants, in competition with Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx is an American musician, songwriter, author, fashion designer, radio host, and photographer, best known as the co-founder and bassist of the band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister band mate Lizzie Grey...
of Mötley Crüe, who had set fire to himself the night before.
Osbourne experienced tremors for some years and linked them to his continuous drug abuse. In May 2005 he found out it was actually Parkin Syndrome
Parkin (ligase)
Parkin is a protein which in humans is encoded by the PARK2 gene. The precise function of this protein is unknown; however, the protein is a component of a multiprotein E3 ubiquitin ligase complex which in turn is part of the ubiquitin-proteasome system that mediates the targeting of proteins for...
, a genetic condition, the symptoms of which are very similar to Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. Osbourne will have to take daily medication for the rest of his life to combat the involuntary shudders associated with the condition. Osbourne has also shown symptoms of mild hearing loss, as depicted in the television show, The Osbournes, where he often asks his family to repeat what they say. At the TEDMED Conference
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in October 2010, scientists from Knome
Knome
Knome is an American personal genomics company that sells human whole genome and exome analysis and sequencing services to researchers and consumers...
joined Osbourne on stage to discuss their analysis of Osbourne’s whole genome, which shed light on how the famously hard-living rocker has survived decades of drug abuse.
Condemnation and lawsuits
Early on in his career, Christian groups accused Osbourne of being a negative influence for teenagers, and that rock music's messages in songs, actions, and stage decorations were portrayals of devil worship used only to glorify SatanismSatanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
. At least one scholar, Christopher M. Moreman, has compared the controversy surrounding Osbourne and accusations of Satanism to those levelled against the renowned occultist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
. Both were demonised by the media and some religious groups for their antics. Osbourne tempts the comparison with his song "Mr. Crowley
Mr. Crowley
"Mr Crowley" is a 1980 heavy metal song performed by Ozzy Osbourne, released on the album Blizzard of Ozz, Osbourne's first solo effort following his firing from Black Sabbath. It peaked at number 46 on the United Kingdom charts. Musicians playing on the song are guitarist Randy Rhoads, bass...
". Both Osbourne and Crowley enjoyed the infamy of being labelled Satanists, though Osbourne firmly denies the charge. Some critics condemn both men as anti-Christian.
In 1981, after signing his first solo career record deal, Osbourne bit the head off a dove during a meeting with some record-company executives in Los Angeles. Apparently he had planned to release doves into the air as a sign of peace, but due to being intoxicated at the time, he instead grabbed a dove and bit its head off. He then spat the head out, with blood still dripping from his lips. Despite its controversy, this act has been parodied and alluded to several times throughout his career and is part of what made Ozzy Osbourne famous.
On 20 January 1982, Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Veterans Memorial Auditorium (Des Moines)
Veterans Memorial Auditorium is an arena in Des Moines, Iowa, that is part of the Iowa Events Center complex. It opened on February 1, 1955, and was named to honor the World War II veterans of Polk County. It has 7,227 permanent seats, with the capacity to add an additional 4,000 seats for concerts...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine in 2004 ranked this incident number two on its list of "Rock's Wildest Myths." While the Rolling Stone article stated the bat was alive, the teen who threw it onto the stage said it was brought to the show dead. According to Osbourne himself in the booklet to the 2002 edition of Diary of a Madman
Diary of a Madman (album)
Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was recorded from the 9th of Feb to the 23 of March 1981 inclusively - the end of winter in the UK and recording ending just into spring equinox. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered...
, the bat was not only alive but also managed to bite him, resulting in his having to take rabies shots.
In 1985, California teenager John McCollum committed suicide while listening to Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution
Suicide Solution
"Suicide Solution" is a song by Ozzy Osbourne. It is track five on the album Blizzard of Ozz released in 1980. Guitarist Randy Rhoads wrote the riff to the song , and Bob Daisley helped co-write the lyrics...
." The song deals with the dangers of alcohol abuse. McCollum's suicide led to allegations that Osbourne promoted suicide in his songs. Despite knowing McCollum suffered clinical depression, his parents sued Ozzy Osbourne (McCollum v. CBS) for their son's death, claiming the lyrics in the song, "Where to hide, suicide is the only way out. Don't you know what it's really about?" convinced McCollum to commit suicide. The family's lawyer suggested that Osbourne should be criminally charged for encouraging a young person to commit suicide, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour, saying there was no connection between the song and McCollum's suicide. Osbourne was sued for the same reason in 1991 (Waller v. Osbourne), by the parents of Michael Waller, for $9 million, but the courts ruled in Osbourne's favour in that case as well. One critic claims that Osbourne sings "Get the gun, get the gun, shoot, shoot, shoot," a charge firmly denied by him.
In lawsuits filed in 2000 and 2002 which were dismissed by the courts in 2003, former session musicians Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, and Phil Soussan claimed that Osbourne was delinquent in paying them royalties and had denied them due credit on albums they played on. In November 2003, a Federal Appeals Court unanimously upheld the dismissal by the United States District Court in Los Angeles of the lawsuit brought by Daisley and Kerslake. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Osbourne does not owe any royalties or credit to the former session musicians, who were let go in 1981. To resolve further issues, management chose to replace Daisley and Kerslake's contributions on the original masters, replacing them with Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...
on bass and Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left...
on drums. The albums were then reissued.
In July 2010, Osbourne and Iommi decided to discontinue the court proceedings over ownership of the Black Sabbath trademark. As reported to Blabbermouth, "Both parties are glad to put this behind them and to cooperate together for the future and would like it to be known that the issue was never personal, it was always business."
Band members
Current members (as of 2010)- Gus G.Gus G.Kostas Karamitroudis aka Gus G., born September 12, 1980 in Thessaloniki, Greece is a heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne...
– lead guitar (2009–present) - Rob "Blasko" NicholsonRob Nicholson (musician)Rob "Blasko" Nicholson is a Heavy metal bassist who was born on November 24, 1969. His influences include the metal bands Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Corrosion of Conformity...
– bass (2003, 2006–present) - Adam WakemanAdam WakemanAdam Wakeman is the current keyboardist for Ozzy Osbourne's band and also keyboardist for Black Sabbath...
– keyboards, rhythm guitar (2004–present) - Tommy ClufetosTommy ClufetosTommy Clufetos Currently plays drums for Ozzy Osbourne, and previously played for famous rock artists Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper. He also played drums for Rob Zombie, and was featured on the 2006 album Educated Horses, Zombie's first live release, 2007's Zombie Live and 2010's Hellbilly Deluxe 2...
– drums, percussion (2009–present)
Recording timeline
| Role | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard of Ozz Blizzard of Ozz Blizzard of Ozz is the first solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, UK and released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the U.S.. It is the comeback album of Osbourne following his firing from Black Sabbath the previous year... (1980) |
Diary of a Madman Diary of a Madman (album) Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was recorded from the 9th of Feb to the 23 of March 1981 inclusively - the end of winter in the UK and recording ending just into spring equinox. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered... (1981) |
Bark at the Moon Bark at the Moon - Credits :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Jake E. Lee – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass guitar* Tommy Aldridge – drums* Don Airey – keyboardsProduction* Produced by Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Daisley, and Max Norman* Engineered by Max Norman... (1983) |
The Ultimate Sin The Ultimate Sin -Personnel:*Ozzy Osbourne - vocals*Jake E. Lee - guitar*Phil Soussan - bass*Randy Castillo - drumsAdditional performers*Mike Moran - keyboardsProduction*Produced and engineered by Ron Nevison*Additional engineers - Martin White, Richard Moakes... (1986) |
No Rest for the Wicked No Rest for the Wicked (Ozzy Osbourne album) No Rest for the Wicked is the fifth studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was released on October 22, 1988 and was re-issued / remastered on August 22, 1995 and again on June 25, 2002. The album was certified gold in December 1989 and has since gone double platinum. No Rest for the Wicked is the first... (1988) |
No More Tears No More Tears - 2002 Reissue :- Personnel :Musicians* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Zakk Wylde – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass* Randy Castillo – drums* John Sinclair – keyboards, pianoAdditional personnel* Mike Inez – inspiration, musical direction... (1991) |
Ozzmosis Ozzmosis -Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitar*Geezer Butler – bass*Deen Castronovo – drums*Rick Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Michael Beinhorn – production, keyboards... (1995) |
Down to Earth Down to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album) -Personnel:Primary musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitars*Robert Trujillo – bass*Mike Bordin – drumsAdditional musicians... (2001) |
Black Rain Black Rain (Ozzy Osbourne album) -'Tour Edition' disc 2:- Album sales :Black Rain debuted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 152,000 copies in its first week; making it Osbourne's highest debut to date. It peaked at number 37 on the Australian ARIA Album Chart... (2007) |
Scream Scream (Ozzy Osbourne album) -Tour Edition CD2:-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, production*Gus G – guitars*Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass*Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion*Adam Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Kevin Churko – production, engineering, mixing... (2010) |
|
| Guitars | Randy Rhoads Randy Rhoads Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out... |
Jake E. Lee Jake E. Lee Jakey Lou Williams , commonly known as Jake E. Lee, is an American guitarist best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne in the mid-1980s and later in his own band Badlands.- Musical education :... |
Zakk Wylde Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,... |
Gus G. Gus G. Kostas Karamitroudis aka Gus G., born September 12, 1980 in Thessaloniki, Greece is a heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne... |
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| Bass | Bob Daisley Bob Daisley Robert John "Bob" Daisley is an Australian musician, bassist and lyricist who has performed in genres of rock, blues, R&B, hard rock and metal.-Early career:... |
Phil Soussan Phil Soussan Phil Soussan is a bass guitarist, songwriter and producer who has gained notoriety as a member of a host of famed rock and roll bands, including some who have been fronted by such vocalists as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Johnny Hallyday and John Waite, as well as a membership in Beggars... |
Bob Daisley | Geezer Butler Geezer Butler Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of... |
Robert Trujillo Robert Trujillo Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:... |
Rob Nicholson Rob Nicholson (musician) Rob "Blasko" Nicholson is a Heavy metal bassist who was born on November 24, 1969. His influences include the metal bands Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Corrosion of Conformity... |
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| Drums | Lee Kerslake Lee Kerslake Lee Kerslake is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep, in addition to his work in the Ozzy Osbourne band... |
Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge is a veteran heavy metal and hard rock drummer. Aldridge is noted for his work with numerous bands and vocalists, most notable being Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent and Thin Lizzy.Self taught, Aldridge was inspired by Cream,... |
Randy Castillo Randy Castillo Randolpho Francisco Castillo was best known as Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999-2002.-Early years:... |
Deen Castronovo Deen Castronovo Deen Castronovo is an Italian American drummer who has played in various bands, including Kandles at Nine, Cacophony, Bad English, Journey, The Enemy, Wild Dogs, Dr. Mastermind, Hardline, Planet Us, Soul Sirkus, Social Distortion, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's G/Z/R, as well as in... |
Mike Bordin Mike Bordin Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left... |
Tommy Clufetos Tommy Clufetos Tommy Clufetos Currently plays drums for Ozzy Osbourne, and previously played for famous rock artists Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper. He also played drums for Rob Zombie, and was featured on the 2006 album Educated Horses, Zombie's first live release, 2007's Zombie Live and 2010's Hellbilly Deluxe 2... |
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| Keyboards | Don Airey Don Airey Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord... |
Johnny Cook | Don Airey | Mike Moran | John Sinclair John Sinclair (musician) John Sinclair is a keyboardist who has played for bands such as The Babys, Heavy Metal Kids, Savoy Brown, The Cult, but is probably best known for his time in Uriah Heep and playing for Ozzy Osbourne's band... |
Rick Wakeman Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes... |
Tim Palmer Tim Palmer Tim Palmer is a British music producer, audio engineer and songwriter of rock and alternative music.-1980-1990:Palmer worked as an assistant engineer at Utopia Studios in London, England in the early 1980s... /Michael Railo |
Zakk Wylde Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,... |
Adam Wakeman Adam Wakeman Adam Wakeman is the current keyboardist for Ozzy Osbourne's band and also keyboardist for Black Sabbath... |
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Discography
Solo albums- Blizzard of OzzBlizzard of OzzBlizzard of Ozz is the first solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, UK and released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the U.S.. It is the comeback album of Osbourne following his firing from Black Sabbath the previous year...
(1980) - Diary of a MadmanDiary of a Madman (album)Diary of a Madman is the second studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was recorded from the 9th of Feb to the 23 of March 1981 inclusively - the end of winter in the UK and recording ending just into spring equinox. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered...
(1981) - Speak of the Devil (1982)
- Bark at the MoonBark at the Moon- Credits :* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Jake E. Lee – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass guitar* Tommy Aldridge – drums* Don Airey – keyboardsProduction* Produced by Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Daisley, and Max Norman* Engineered by Max Norman...
(1983) - The Ultimate SinThe Ultimate Sin-Personnel:*Ozzy Osbourne - vocals*Jake E. Lee - guitar*Phil Soussan - bass*Randy Castillo - drumsAdditional performers*Mike Moran - keyboardsProduction*Produced and engineered by Ron Nevison*Additional engineers - Martin White, Richard Moakes...
(1986) - No Rest for the WickedNo Rest for the Wicked (Ozzy Osbourne album)No Rest for the Wicked is the fifth studio album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was released on October 22, 1988 and was re-issued / remastered on August 22, 1995 and again on June 25, 2002. The album was certified gold in December 1989 and has since gone double platinum. No Rest for the Wicked is the first...
(1988) - No More TearsNo More Tears- 2002 Reissue :- Personnel :Musicians* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Zakk Wylde – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass* Randy Castillo – drums* John Sinclair – keyboards, pianoAdditional personnel* Mike Inez – inspiration, musical direction...
(1991) - OzzmosisOzzmosis-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitar*Geezer Butler – bass*Deen Castronovo – drums*Rick Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Michael Beinhorn – production, keyboards...
(1995) - Down to EarthDown to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album)-Personnel:Primary musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitars*Robert Trujillo – bass*Mike Bordin – drumsAdditional musicians...
(2001) - Black RainBlack Rain (Ozzy Osbourne album)-'Tour Edition' disc 2:- Album sales :Black Rain debuted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 152,000 copies in its first week; making it Osbourne's highest debut to date. It peaked at number 37 on the Australian ARIA Album Chart...
(2007) - ScreamScream (Ozzy Osbourne album)-Tour Edition CD2:-Personnel:Musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, production*Gus G – guitars*Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass*Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion*Adam Wakeman – keyboardsAdditional personnel*Kevin Churko – production, engineering, mixing...
(2010)