Ozzy's interview with GQ Magazine is one for the books, to say the least. This is personally one of the best interviews with The Prince of Darkness I've ever seen.
He opens up about how the lockdown has affected his mental health:
"I'm going super nuts now. I bought an air rifle and I'm shooting pellets at the wall every day. I'm getting through 10,000 pellets a week. Bang, bang, bang. I'm like a caged animal! But I've done a lot of reflecting during this lockdown. I've been thinking of my childhood, thinking about what a fantastic life I've had."
His stay in jail:
It was an experience I'm glad I did. I didn't have money to pay a fine [for burglary] and my father refused to pay it for me, so I ended up in jail for three or four weeks. Jail was OK for a couple of days but then I got homesick. When I watch these crime things on TV and people get sentenced to forever and a day... I don't know how they do it..."
Sharon's battle with cancer:
I said, "I'm not doing any more shows," and she said, "Get the fuck out of here," because I was driving her nuts. But when she had her chemo it fucking knocked the shit out of her. She would be so ill; the chemo effect was worse than the cancer.
When asked if he was in charge of her recovery, he said:
...I got Robin Williams to come round to the house to cheer her up instead. He had that film Patch Adams, where he was treating terminally ill people with laughter, so I thought he could come around to make her laugh when I was on tour. She loved it. And she was very upset when he killed himself."
His relationship with Elton John:
"Every single week Elton John calls my wife. I'm not one to hang out with this one and that one but he's become a family friend. When we did 'Ordinary Man', I said to Andrew [Watt] it reminded me of an Elton song and he said, 'Why not get him on it?' I thought, 'You can only ask.' I only wanted him to play piano on it but he sang as well. The guy's a workaholic. Last time he was at the house I asked him what he'd been doing and he said he'd just played 40 shows in 40 days! How can you do that?! I've not done that kind of work since I was 19!"
His Regrets:
"I've done some pretty outrageous things in my life. I regret cheating on my wife. I don't do it any more. I got my reality check and I'm lucky she didn't leave me. I'm not proud of that. I was pissed off with myself. But I broke her heart."
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Ozzy talks about his first meeting with the Queen, The Osbournes series, the fact that the person occupying his childhood home rents out his bedroom and his plans on touring in the future.
Believe it or not, this is just scratching the surface. GQ did an amazing job and I agree 100% with their decision to give him The "Man Of The Year - Lifetime Achievement Award".
Check out the full interview with GQ Magazine here.
