Knowledge Is Power
Ozzy Osbourne
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Knowledge Is Power
Ozzy Osbourne
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Born John "Ozzy" Osbourne on December 3, 1948 in Birmingham, England, Osbourne grew up in a working-class family and left
school at age 15 to work a series of low-paying jobs, which included a car horn tester and slaughterhouse worker. Dissatisfied
with his income, Osbourne turned to petty crime, burglarizing houses and shops before being apprehended andimprisoned. (It
was in jail that he received the now-famous tattoo of O-Z-Z-Y across his knuckles.) When he was released, Osbourne decided
to go straight. One day he ran into an old friend who was in a band that needed a singer; Osbourne joined immediately, despite
having no experience. Osbourne soon outgrew his friend's band and joined a succession of local rock acts, eventually ending up in an outfit called
Earth, featuring Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, and Bill Ward on drums. After discovering another band of the
same name, the members of Earth changed their moniker to Black Sabbath, taking the name from an old Boris Karloff movie. Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album on Friday, Feb. 13, 1970 and, almost immediately, developed a cult
following in both Britain and America. Their following expanded further with the release of their hit 1971 follow-up, Paranoid,
whose title single became a radio staple and a heavy metal anthem. Later that year the band released their third album, Master of Reality, followed by Vol. 4 (1972), Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath (1975), Sabotage (1975) and Technical Ecstacy (1976). During this period Osbourne married Thelma Mayfair and twice became a father. Unfortunately, he (and the rest of the band)
also became seriously dependent on alcohol and cocaine, and gained a reputation for trashing cars and hotel rooms. Sometime
while at home in 1976 Osbourne grew frustrated and, in anger, shot a bunch of chickens he kept in a coop in his backyard,
starting rumors that he tortured animals for fun. Black Sabbath was also plagued by allegations of Satanism because of misinterpreted
lyrics and occult imagery. In 1977 Osbourne's father passed away, causing him to leave the band for a period before the release of their next album,
1978's Never Say Die. Osbourne became increasingly uninterested in Black Sabbath and stopped showing up for practices.
At the end of the "Never Say Die" tour the band had had enough, and Tony Iommi kicked Osbourne out of Black Sabbath, replacing
him with ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronny James Dio. After months of despair and drug abuse, which ultimately led to his divorce from Thelma, Osbourne met Sharon Arden (daughter
of rock manager Don Arden), who helped him turn his life around. With a keen business sense, Sharon encouraged Osbourne to
launch a solo career and, taking on the role of manager, helped him orchestrate every move along the way. Osbourne joined forces with Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads to begin work on his 1980 solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz.
The album was a resounding success, reaching platinum status, and Osbourne hit the road with an equally triumphant tour, performing
Black Sabbath tunes as well as his new material. In 1981 Osbourne released his follow-up, Diary of a Madman, which eventually sold more than five million copies
and firmly established Osbourne as a solo artist in his own right. Unfortunately, the infamous "Diary of a Madman" tour was
one of the most troubled outings in rock history, with misfortune, bad publicity and protesters dogging Osbourne the whole
way. Osbourne's new gimmick for the tour was to throw raw meat into the audience, and soon he started getting pelted with
disgusting things in return, including, at one point, a live bat. Thinking it was a rubber toy, Osbourne bit into the animal
only to find it was alive! Osbourne had to receive a series of rabies shots after the bizarre incident, which was quickly
blown out of proportion by the media and, of course, caused his record sales to skyrocket. Later, during February of 1982, Osbourne urinated on a part of the Alamo during a drunken night in San Antonio, outraging
Texans and landing him in jail on charges of defacing a national monument. The next month, while stopped at an airstrip in
Florida, the bus driver, who was also a private pilot, offered to take the band's entourage on rides in a rented plane. With
Randy Rhoads and Osbourne's wardrobe assistant on board, the intoxicated bus driver/pilot tried to "buzz" Osbourne's tour
bus, but instead slammed the plane into a garage, killing everyone aboard. Rhoads was replaced by Brad Gillis from Night Ranger
and the tour continued, but Osbourne remained deeply depressed by the loss of his friend and guitarist. Later that summer, Osbourne married his long-time girlfriend/manager Arden and recorded a live album Speak of the Devil,
a collection of BlackSabbath covers. Throughout this time Osbourne grew increasingly unstable due to his growing drug problem and lingering depression over
the death of his bandmate. To celebrate a new contract with CBS Records, Osbourne showed up at a gathering of Epic Record
executives carrying two doves, which his wife suggested releasing as a gimmicky "peace offering." Osbourne arrived so intoxicated
that he bit the head off one of the birds, causing yet another media uproar. After this event Osbourne entered rehab, ironically emerging to find himself the subject of a lawsuit by angry parents
who claimed their sons committed suicide after listening to Osbourne's anti-alcohol song "Suicide Solution," written as a
tribute to AC/DC member Bon Scott, who died of an alcohol overdose. Osbourne quickly won the suit. For his third studio album, 1984's Bark at the Moon, Osbourne recruited guitarist Jake E. Lee. The album was a commericial
success, eventually reaching double platinum status. After a two-and-a-half year hiatus and another lineup switch, Osbourne
returned in 1988 with No Rest for the Wicked, featuring new guitarist Zakk Wylde. By 1991 Osbourne had completely sobered up and released a softer, more personal album, No More Tears. Osbourne announced
that the 1992 "No More Tears" tour would be his swansong and a double-live album, Live and Loud, was released in 1993
following the "farewell" tour. The album contained a live version of the song "I Don't Wanna Change the World," which earned
Osbourne his first Grammy Award, for "Best Metal Performance." Bouyed by the success of the tour and album, Osbourne decided to put his "retirement" on hold and returned with Ozzmosis
in late 1995. Zakk Wylde then left the band and was replaced by Randy Rhoad's friend Joe Holmes. In the fall of 1996 Osbourne headlined the Ozzfest festival tour, a gathering of '90s heavy metal acts (including a nearly
reunited Black Sabbath) which continued through the summer of 1997. Grossing more than $12 million, Ozzfest proved to be the
second most successful tour of the year, behind Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair. In November of 1997, Osbourne released The
Ozzman Cometh, a double-CD retrospective including never-before-heard rehearsal tapes of four classic Sabbath songs. In the summer of 1998, with no hint of slowing down, Osbourne reassembled Ozzfest and went back on the road.
"As long as there are kids who are pissed off and have no real way in venting out that anger, heavy metal will live on"-
Ozzy Osbourne "I have no regrets except that I wasn't up to keep Randy (Rhoads) from getting on that plane."- Ozzy Osbourne "I like to walk around the cities and see things. I've been around this country so many times, yet I've hardly see things.
Sometimes I literally don't know what town I am in. We just get on the plane and fly."(1981) "It's really funny, because I'm a split personality. When I'm home, I'm ordinary John Osbourne. When I'm on the road,
I'm a madman. I just go crazy." (1981) "Don't get involved in the business trip thing that goes with it. It changes your personality instantly. If you don't watch
it, you can be sucked down the tubes so easily in the first two years. Just keep yourself steady, believe in what you do.
Be sincere." (1981) "The only truly important memeber of the band was Randy. He was a saint--the greatest pure guitarist I've ever seen
or heard. He was a natural, a born star. The rest of the people I work with are just there to play a f*cking role." (1983)
"They insited on calling it "Speak Of The Devil." If they had called it "History Of Ozz", they could have put Randy's work
on it. But I wasn't about to let them put him on an album called "Speak Of The Devil." That would have been a crime in my
eyes. Randy was a saint, and to tarnish his name by putting him on an album with the devil's name on it would have been unthinkable."
(1983) "Why would I ever consider giving up what I'm doing? I love doing it, and the fans seem to love it as much as I do. If
I wasn't doing this, I'd end up either in prison or at the end of a rope in a very short time. I don't even like to consider
the possibility." (1983) " I'll never be mellow. I'd sooner die than become a boring old fart. I'm still as much of a loon as I ever was. I like
being a little crazy--- it makes people respect you. the never take you for granted, that's for sure." (1983) "Over the years I've seen so many bands come out of nowhere and disappear again and I'm still plodding along and having
fun. I thank my lucky stars every day." (1985) "My mother said to me, 'Get a proper job. Quit this f*cking around.' She still thinks it s a f*cking crazy thing I'm doing."
(1985) "Certain people are blessed with a gift and a lot of luck. I'm not. I believe you need a certain amount of talent but a
hell of a lot of luck. For every Ozzy Osbourne there's a million more that don't get that break." (1985) "To be honest, I am a little bit crazy. I accept that. I've always been outrageous. I've never been the every day Norman
Normal. I've always gone over the top with everything, you know. But the funniest thing is People within the industry believe
what the industry prints about me. I find that really hard to swallow." (1985) "My mother was an amateur singer, my father was an amateur drunk." (1985) "I suddenly realized that when I was a drug addict, I used to write things like "Flying High Again," "Snowblind," all this
sh*t. And the other night, I thought, "F*ckin' 'ell, I sing one song for it and then straight after I sing one song against
it." But the thing is, that's OK. Because that was where I was when I wrote that, so why shouldn't I do it? It's part of my
life. It's a part of what I am and what I will be. I might start singing f*cking religious songs. I don't think so, but if
I choose to, why not? To think you can't sing stuff from your last album because now you're a different man is bullsh*t. If
they're good enough to write and good enough to hear and to buy, then they're good enough to sing onstage, you know? I'm not
ashamed of anything that I've done in the past." (1985) "I'd rather have people get rid of their aggression at an Ozzy concert than by beating some old lady over the head and
running off with her purse." (1985) "I went to join the army once when I was depressed and pissed off. They wouldn't have
me for some reason." (1985) "I don't see where he [guitarist Tony Iommi] gets off using the name of Black Sabbath on his own. To me, it's almost sacrilegious."
(1985) "After I bit the head off the bat, the animal rights people came after me every night. Probably right after they
finished eating their Colonel Sanders or whatever, telling me I shouldn't be biting the heads off bats. I'll tell you what
bats taste like. Like a good McDonald's." (1985) "I'm not the greatest singer in the world, but I do give people entertainment." (1986) "It's entertainment -- Ozzy puts his mask on and does his performance. You see far more violence in a Tom and Jerry cartoon
than you see at an Ozzy Osbourne concert. Kids see the mouse get his brains bashed in every morning on television." (1986)
"I would hate my children to be the typical rock 'n' roll brats. My father always taught me that if you haven't got anything
else, the cheapest thing in the world is good manners." (1986) "Someone made me an Ozzy Osbourne Cabbage Patch Doll, tattoos and everything. Red boots and skin tight pants. It's
so cute" (1986) "I remember being in Nashville with Tommy Lee and Vince Neil, and we got smashed on sake. We were lying there in
the middle of the freeway, smashed legless. We nearly got arrested for urinating on a police car. Motley Crue were the greatest
guys I ever toured with. I thought I was nuts. Definitely a wild bunch, they are." (1986) "It's good fun and it has great rewards. It's been such an eye opener for me. Everything that I ever wanted to have has
come from rock 'n' roll. I've had happiness, I've had sadness, I've had everything. I've experienced life, death, birth, marriage,
divorce, and it's been a whole bunch of fun. I wouldn't have it any different. I'd do it all again tomorrow." (1986) "I've learned that if one is an alcoholic one is always and alcoholic. There's no such thing as beating the bottle. You
can win a few of the battles, but unless you're very careful, booze will win the war. When I first came out of the clinic
I tried to stay away from alcohol totally. I didn't want to be seen by my children or their friends as this old drunk who
was always too smashed to even walk." (1987) " People can think whatever they want. It's not my job to convince them of anything. The truth is that I don't really know
why I do some of the things that I do. Of course, being drunk at the time can lead you to do just about anything." (1987)
"I hate thinking I'm gonna be 40. It's a very responsible age to be. I keep expecting myself to get mellow but I don't.
I'm just as f*ckin' crazy as I have ever been" (1987) "It ain't all sweet, rock 'n' roll. You certainly put in the hours to get the rewards. I've been challenged a lot over
the years but I still manage to keep my head above water" (1988) "I didn't know it was a bat at the time until I crunched the head. 'Oh my God, what have I done?!" (1988) "I've come to the conclusion that people don't want to know the truth - that I'm a happily married man with three
kids that I absolutely adore, and that what I do is entertain people. I am not f*cking Dracula!" (1989) "There are so many cases of people blaming me that I don't even keep a record of it. Just last week someone else shot himself
and has blamed me. I will not surrender. I will not let these foolish people get to me, because it's my profession, and I
have the Godgiven right to do what I'm doing. I believe in God, I don't believe in the devil. I am not a devil worshiper.
My kids do not sleep in the attic, hanging upside down on rafters." (1990) "I'm an absolute perfectionist. I'm never happy with a finished album. There's always something I don't like." (1990) "I'm not a very pleasant man to live with when I'm writing. People have to stay away from me. I have to stay away from
myself" (1990) "After all is said and done, I wouldn't change a f*ckin thing. Because if I dropped dead now - I've had such an eventful
life -- I'd rather be doing what I'm doing today than anything else. Let's face it, this beats going down a coal mine, delivering
milk, or working in a f*cking office. At least I've had a lot of f*cking experiences and a lot of fun. I've lived life to
its fullest" (1991) "I'm addicted to rock 'n' roll. The reason why so many take drugs and get f*cked up is because we want the party
to continue. But that's way, way at the bottom of the ladder compared to a good rock show" (1991) "When I was a kid in the summer I used to go playing in the cornfields, setting fire to barns. I used to be a little amateur
arsonist" (1991) "My idea of retirement is when they lower a pine box in the ground." (1992) "If I had to start it all over again, the only thing I would change is I'd learn to read a contract better." (1992)
"I was drinking colossal amounts of alcohol and I'd get up there and come crashing back down. I was getting in a deeper,
deeper hole. I began to take the Ozzy off stage and bring him home, which I swore I'd never do." (1994) "It's easy to say you're retiring but you've got to have something to retire to. I didn't. I was like a f*cking fish out
of water. Readjusting to being civilized again was not my cup of tea." (1995) "A lot of my drinking friends died in their 40's -- heart attacks, one guys liver exploded. There but for the grace of
God go I. There must be a guiding star over me. (1996) "The music industry thought the Ozzfest tour was a crap idea. They said it wasn't hip. It wasn't current. But our
show was the biggest grossing tour in California for all of '96. We did what we believed in." (1997) "I'm still that kid sitting on the steops fantasizing. I haven't made my St. Pepper album yet" (1998) "I don't follow trends. I don't watch the charts. I just do what I like, and I've been fortunatethat others have liked
it as well. And I don't think about what I've done -- I think about what I'm going to do" (1998) "I love my wife more than anything in the world. There's no other woman I could see myself being married to." (1998) "There's not a day that goes by without me thinking about Randy Rhoads. I have a picture of him and me in my dressing room;
I still talk to him in my head. You never realize what you have until it's gone." (1998) "People come up to me and say, 'Man, I'm 17 years old, my father would tell me about Black Sabbath, you are the f*cking
best.' That is the biggest honor of all -- fathers and sons, generations who are still fans. That's when you say, 'I must
have done something right'" (1998)
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