Ozzy Osbourne, famously known as the “Prince of Darkness,” has led one of the most iconic and successful careers in heavy metal music. With total sales from his time in Black Sabbath and his solo career exceeding 100 million records, Osbourne’s impact on the music world is undeniable. He has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Active in the industry since 1967, his longevity and influence have earned him the title “Godfather of Heavy Metal.”
Throughout his career with Black Sabbath and beyond, Osbourne struggled with heavy drug and alcohol use, a topic he has candidly discussed in interviews, including with Rolling Stone.
“Every one of my bad drinking partners are all dead. No one’s come back and said, ‘Hi, Oz, it’s cooler on this side. Come and join us.’ I want to be around for everyone. But more than that, I didn’t love the way I felt after I got stoned or drunk or both.“
Born John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne on December 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Osbourne developed a love for music at a young age. At 14, he became a devoted fan of The Beatles after hearing their first hit single.
He credits their 1963 song “She Loves You” as the inspiration that drove him to pursue a career in music. In the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, he reflected, “I knew I was going to be a rock star for the rest of my life.”
Osbourne dropped out of school at 15 and took on various jobs, including construction work, plumbing, and toolmaking. He even spent six weeks in prison after being unable to pay a fine for robbing a clothing shop.
In late 1967, Osbourne was recruited as the lead vocalist for a local band. After only two performances, the group disbanded, but he later reunited with Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward to form Black Sabbath in 1969.
The band secured a modest record deal, marking a turning point for Osbourne.
“I was 18 when Sony offered us a deal for Black Sabbath. £105 they gave me – and I’d never seen so much cash in my f-ing life. From then onwards, I could get drunk morning, noon, and night, and nobody would care. There isn’t another job in the world where you can turn up ped as a wheel and not get fired.”
Their first two albums, Black Sabbath and Paranoid, achieved significant commercial success. Just five months after Paranoid, they released Master of Reality, which became a massive hit, reaching the top ten in both the US and UK. It was certified gold within two months and later earned double platinum status, though early reviews were harsh.
Black Sabbath’s music was initially dismissed by critics, who called it naive or simplistic. However, with the release of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the band began receiving positive reviews. Decades later, AllMusic hailed the album as a “masterpiece” and “essential to any heavy metal collection.”
In 1978, Osbourne briefly left the band to pursue a solo project, but rejoined Black Sabbath to work on their next album, Never Say Die!.
Much like his return to Black Sabbath, Osbourne’s recovery journey reflects the resilience of someone determined to continue, even when the odds seem stacked against them.
Band member Tony Iommi reflected on the challenges of making the album:
“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.”
Though the album was eventually completed and the band embarked on a supporting tour with Van Halen as the opener, tensions between Osbourne and the other members, particularly Iommi, had escalated. In 1979, Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath due to being deemed unreliable and struggling with substance abuse more than the other members.
Despite this setback, Osbourne went on to have an extraordinary solo career. One of his most successful ventures was the festival tour Ozzfest, created by his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne. The festival became an annual event and featured major acts such as Slipknot, Pantera, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie.
Osbourne later reunited with Black Sabbath, released a final album, and embarked on a farewell tour in 2017.
Throughout his career, Osbourne faced numerous moments where his career could have taken a different turn due to his struggles with substance abuse. For the majority of his adult life, Osbourne battled addiction, which caused friction within his band. Longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde once likened Osbourne’s resilience and tolerance to drugs to being “like King Kong and Godzilla combined.”
Throughout his career, Osbourne faced numerous moments where his career could have taken a different turn due to his struggles with substance abuse. For the majority of his adult life, Osbourne battled addiction, which caused friction within his band. Longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde once likened Osbourne’s resilience and tolerance to drugs to being “like King Kong and Godzilla combined.”
Osbourne’s first experience with cocaine occurred in the early 1970s in Denver, Colorado, after a Black Sabbath show. Reflecting on that moment in an interview with The Telegraph, Osbourne said:
“The first time I tried cocaine, I remember thinking, ‘I’ve found the meaning of life!’ But then I loved morphine and everything else, too. At my worst, I was buying kilos of the stuff every week.”
His substance abuse, including heavy alcohol and drug use, eventually affected his performances. His voice, often damaged by cigarettes and alcohol, began to suffer, impacting many of his live shows.
Osbourne has openly admitted that the most addictive substance he ever consumed was tobacco. Reflecting on his struggle, he said, “By the end, I was chewing the gum, smoking the fake cigarettes, wearing the patches, and smoking 20 a day. I even tried cigars, but within a week, I was smoking 30 Cohibas a day and inhaling. Now I don’t do anything anymore. I got bored of always being messed up on something or other.”
Stories about Osbourne’s wild behavior while under the influence are numerous. One infamous incident includes performing a striptease for the head of CBS Europe in Germany, followed by kissing the executive on the lips. According to his wife Sharon, Osbourne even urinated in the executive’s wine, though he was too intoxicated to remember.
Another infamous episode saw him banned from San Antonio for a decade after being arrested for urinating on a war memorial. He also fired his entire band while intoxicated on another occasion, with no memory of doing so afterward.
After being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne reportedly locked himself in a hotel room for months, consuming large amounts of drugs and alcohol. It was Sharon, his future wife, who found him and helped pull him out of his downward spiral. As Osbourne has said, “If it weren’t for her, without a shadow of a doubt, I would be dead.”
Despite his success with periods of sobriety in recent years, Osbourne spent nearly 40 years of his life on what he describes as a “bender.” Like many people on the road to recovery, he has faced relapses along the way.
In 2013, Osbourne publicly acknowledged his struggle with sobriety on Facebook, apologizing for his behavior during a difficult period: “I would like to apologize to Sharon, my family, my friends, my bandmates, and my fans for my insane behavior during this time.“
Next Steps
Sobriety is a lifelong journey, and setbacks are a common part of the process, as anyone in recovery would affirm. Osbourne has faced his own challenges along the way. Fortunately, there are many resources available for those struggling with substance abuse.
Sunrise Recovery is a drug and alcohol rehab center in Indiana that provides a variety of treatment options and support to help individuals work toward their long-term sobriety.
