Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael Osbourne (born December 3, 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, England), known as Ozzy Osbourne, is the lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath and is also a popular solo artist and reality television star. more...

Osbourne has been married twice and is father to six children: Jessica Hobbs, Louis Osbourne, and adopted son Elliot Kingsley, by first wife Thelma Riley; and Aimee, Kelly and Jack, by current wife Sharon. He has two grandchildren by daughter Jessica.

History

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success. Built around Tony Iommi's driving guitar riffs and Ozzy's eerie vocals, their early records such as their self-titled debut, Paranoid and Master of Reality in particular are considered definitive of heavy metal. This was despite rather modest investment from their US record label Warner Bros.

Several of their early singles, especially "Paranoid" and "Iron Man", continue to draw significant radio airplay to this day. Osbourne himself continues to play these hits when performing as a solo artist.

Solo Success

In 1979, Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath. Though many believe it is due to drug use, it was in fact due to his failure to show up for gigs often. He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio. Depression fueled his drug and alcohol problems. He divorced his first wife Thelma, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Despite these difficulties Osbourne attempted to launch a solo career, managed by Sharon Arden, who was Black Sabbath manager Don Arden's daughter. Ozzy met with considerable success on his first solo effort. With Sharon Arden's help, Ozzy Osbourne was able to gain a recording deal with Jet Records, then a subset of CBS. However Sharon herself recounts that the band were lucky to be able to record and tour under the modest financial deal received from Jet.

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