The Truth About OZZY OSBOURNE

"We thought we were untouchable, the baddest creatures on the planet. And then we met Ozzy Osbourne". This is how Nikki Sixx, bassist for notorious L.A band Motley Crue, begins a chapter in the band's biography, "The Dirt". Sixx then goes on to reveal the sordid, narcotic fuelled escapades that Motley and Ozzy Osbourne got up to on the tour they undertook together in 1984, which included amongst other things, Ozzy Osbourne snorting a line of ants (he'd run out of cocaine) and covering his hotel room walls in his own excrement. Before becoming a lovable if bumbling "reality" TV star, Ozzy Osbourne struck fear into the hearts of parents across Middle America with his satanic imagery and unabashed love of drugs and alcohol. How great a level this love of intoxication reach however and how did it affect his music?

When Ozzy Osbourne first came to public consciousness it was with heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath in 1970. By 1979 he had been ousted by the band he helped to create, due to his unreliability which was a direct result of his indulgences. The rest of Sabbath were far from tee-total; it was a case however that Ozzy Osbourne pushed things further and further and it was effecting his performances on stage and his contribution to the band in the studio.

Post Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne met the love of his life Sharon, who was the daughter of famed band manager Don Arden and who became his lover and manager. Considering the shape Ozzy Osbourne was in, it was a major surprise that under Sharon's guidance he managed to forge a very successful solo career in the early eighties. The music he produced appealed to the disaffected youth of America and the new image he cultivated, with camp, theatrical satanic imagery that bordered on parody, struck fear into the heart of conservatives.

In many ways, Ozzy Osbourne's dangerous and decadent personal life contributed to his popularity and his rampant drug and alcohol abuse was expected by his fans and his detractors alike. Incidents such as urinating on the Alamo whilst wearing a woman's sun dress (accidentally according to Ozzy Osbourne) in January 1982 cemented his notoriety and his status as a figurehead of both youth rebellion and parental distaste.

Despite his varying addictions and brushes with the law Ozzy Osbourne was, in his words, "making the best music of his life" with young guitar maestro Randy Rhoads. Songs such as Mr. Crowley and Crazy Train on the Blizzard of Ozz album have become hard rock classics and Rhoads' guitar work influenced a generation of guitarists and remains influential to this day. This partnership would come to an abrupt end however, after Rhoads died in a freak airplane accident at the age of 25. After this incident Ozzy Osbourne was unable to deal with the loss of his friend and musical partner, and continued to find solace in booze and drugs, continually self medicating himself with whisky and cocaine.

According to press articles from the time and accounts from friends and family, Osbourne's antics continued to reach a more dangerous level during the late 1980s as the alcoholism and drug abuse he experienced continued. Things reached a head in 1989 when, after a prolonged vodka binge, he tried to strangle wife Sharon, telling her "we've decided you have to go" which gives an insight into his mental state at the time. Osbourne awoke in a jail cell with no recollection of the incident and his last memory being eating in an Indian restaurant a day before. It was this occurance which finally shocked Ozzy Osbourne into action in taking steps to control his addictions.

Knowing the depths to which Ozzy Osbourne sank with drink and drugs it's amazing to think that he managed to sustain a career throughout the eighties. What's even more amazing is the fact that he has changed himself from parental pariah into reality TV family man in the hugely successful MTV show The Osbournes, which introduced the somewhat unconventional lifestyle of the eponymous family to the rest of the world. In the programme the supposed effects of Ozzy Osbourne's previous lifestyle were apparently evident (like any "reality" show the producers and directors exaggerated things for effect) with him mumbling incoherently and shaking regularly.

Nowadays Ozzy Osbourne is a huge celebrity and is viewed as something of a harmless, lovable rogue who pushed the button of excess a bit too hard in years previous. It's easy to forget however how vilified he was by conservative America in the 1980s and how close his indulgences brought him to death and destruction. It's something of a miracle the man is still here.