Sharon Osbourne discussed the tension between Ozzy Osbourne and the rest of Black Sabbath on Billy Corgan’s podcast, The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan. She reflected on why Ozzy’s bandmates turned on him, especially when they were jealous of his success.
Osbourne Talks About Ozzy’s Relationship With Tony Iommi And The Band
“I’ve never really understood why they turned on him the way they did,” Corgan said to Sharon. “Generally, it seems to be couched in he was getting too crazy or something but was it? The most striking thing to me is because I’ve seen this footage, it’s like suddenly and I know they did it different times but Ozzy singing on the side in front of the speakers and Tony’s in the middle.”
Sharon responded, “Tony had him move to the side so Tony could be in the middle. I think the long and short of it really. We all know Ozzy was never a good drinker. He was always the first to be on the floor. I mean the worst drinker in the world and drug taker.”
She explained further, “The others could maintain some semblance of we’re okay but Ozzy was always on the floor. I honestly think, because Ozzy didn’t play instrument, that his value in their eyes was this big [showing a small gap with her fingers]. You just sing, you just sing. All you do is sing.”
How Envy Led To Ozzy’s Fallout With Black Sabbath
Sharon also said, “So I honestly think and it’s something I’ve tried to sort out but my thing is that they were envious because Ozzy got attention which every lead singer does. It comes with the gig. And they weren’t getting the notoriety that he was and they thought, ‘You don’t do anything. You’re drunk all the time and why do you get all this notoriety?’ I think that had an awful lot to do with it and they were kids.”
Ozzy was kicked out of Black Sabbath in 1979 due to his issues with alcohol and drugs, and he went on to have a successful solo career, starting with ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ in 1980. Guitarist Tony Iommi recalled, “I can say Ozzy was the first one to have to go, but it was hard. We had to do something. … Everything was coming to a head, and we had to say, ‘Well, what are we gonna do? We’re either gonna call it a day or break up, or we’ve gotta try and find another singer.'”
He added, “We’d already had this problem slightly before. … And Ozzy left for a short while and came back. But in L.A., it just came to a crunch and it all came to an end.”
Finally, Sharon admitted that the biggest mistake she made with Ozzy was turning down an offer for him to audition for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ She didn’t reveal which role Ozzy had been considered for.
