Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English singer, songwriter and television personality. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the band Black Sabbath. Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath in 1979 and has since had a successful solo career, releasing 11 studio albums, the first seven of which were all awarded multi-platinum certifications in the US. He has reunited with Black Sabbath on several occasions, recording the album 13 in 2013. Osbourne's longevity and...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMetal Singer
Date of Birth3 December 1948
CityAston, England
I'm dyslexic, I have attention-deficit disorder, and I've got something like a hereditary tremor.
I hyperventilate opening a box of chocolates. I'm the most nervous guy in the world, a frightened little man on red alert from when I wake until I go to sleep. I was born with fear.
Everybody's having fun, except me I'm the lonely one I live in shame.
Conceived in anger, addicted to hate, the mutant child of a twisted state.
My stay in Camp Betty was the longest I'd been without drink or drugs in my adult life. [...] At first, they put me in a room with a guy who owned a bowling alley, but he snored like an asthmatic horse, so I moved and ended up with a depressive mortician. [...] The mortician snored even louder than the bowling alley guy - he was like a moose with a tracheotomy.
It's just human nature - isn't it? - to be more attracted to something that's taboo. If someone tells you not to smoke, you wanna smoke. If they say, 'Don't do drugs,' you wanna do drugs. That's why I've always thought that the best way to stop people taking drugs is to legalise the f**king things. It would take people about five seconds to realise that being an addict is a terribly unattractive and pathetic way to be, whereas at the moment it still has that kind of rebel cool vibe to it, y'know?
There was a cinema called The Orient outside the community centre where we rehearsed in Six Ways, and whenever it showed a horror film the queue would go all the way down the street and around the corner. 'Isn't it strange how people will pay money to frighten themselves?' I remember Tony [Iommi] saying one day. 'Maybe we should stop doing blues and write scary music instead.'
What is the world coming to?
Nobody ever told me, I found out for myself, You gotta believe in foolish miracles, it's not how you play the game, it's if you win or lose, you can choose, don't confuse, win or lose.
I've got many, many demons that affect me on many, many levels…
Freddie is great. At a time when everybody around was doing God knows what, Queen was making music.
There are some singers that have great technique and then there are those that have a certain quality or style in their voice. Some have both, like Freddie Mercury, but to me, I prefer style over technique.
I just can't wake from these scary dreams.
You've got to have something to retire to. Something you always wanted to do but your job prevented it.