‘Sharon saved me every day' How Ozzy's wife's devotion never wavered through years of drug addiction hell

Scottish Sun

4 days ago

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OZZY Osbourne once admitted how his loyal wife Sharon Osbourne saved his life "every day" despite his turbulent life.
The Black Sabbath star's death comes just weeks after he took to the stage one final time with his band mates at Villa Park in Birmingham.
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Ozzy with his wife Sharon
Credit: Rex
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The pair married in 1982
Credit: Corbis
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Ozzy credits Sharon for 'saving his life every day'
Credit: Getty - Contributor
Ozzy died aged 76, surrounded by his family on Tuesday morning, after bravely battling against Parkinson's disease.
But the veteran rocker may not have hit the heights of his stellar career if he did not have his loyal wife Sharon standing by his side during his lowest moments.
Ozzy once said of the woman who became his second wife: 'If it weren't for her, without a shadow of a doubt, I would be dead.'
Ozzy's volatile behaviour from his drinking and drug abuse saw his life seemingly fall apart and sparked his divorce from his first wife Thelma.
He was also sacked from Black Sabbath on April 27, 1979 as his life continued to spiral downwards.
But everything changed when Sharon Levy turned up at the door that year.
Sharon, then 27, was the daughter of Black Sabbath's manager Don Arden.
They'd first met when she was 18 and working as her dad's receptionist.
The singer wrote in his autobiography I Am Ozzy: 'I fell for Sharon so badly, man.'
And in another interview with Australian music guru Billy Pinnell, Ozzy said: "Truly, without my wife at my side, I wouldn't be here – without any doubt.
The rocker did not shy away from the subject, adding: "I wouldn't be alive, I wouldn't be singing.
"She saved my life every day."
Ozzy Osbourne dead: Black Sabbath singer dies aged 76 weeks after touching final show
When she turned up at his door, Sharon convinced the wreck that he could be a solo star, and that she should be the one to manage him.
The pair wed in Hawaii on July 4, 1982.
Not only did she become mother to his three children Aimee, Kelly and Jack but she also got things back on track.
Debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz, with big numbers like Crazy Train, Suicide Solution and Mr Crowley, appeared in September 1980, and eventually sold more than five million copies.
Sharon also amped up his satanic image, encouraging stage antics such as flinging animal entrails into the audience.
But while Ozzy's solo career soared, so did his appetite for booze, illegal drugs and prescription pills.
He later said: 'I was a beast. Absolutely terrifying.'
Ozzy later expressed regret at the toll his much-publicised drug and alcohol abuse had on Sharon.
In 1989, he attempted to kill Sharon while high on drugs.
Sharon told the Guardian in 2001: 'He was totally insane from all the drink and drugs he was doing, and well, these things happen.'
She fought him off and Ozzy was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but Sharon later dropped the charges and he spent three months in rehab.
Ozzy's family statement
BLACK Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76.
A statement from his family said: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.
"He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.
"Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis."
Ozzy was also injured in a quad bike crash at his UK home in 2003, an episode that had a serious impact on his fragile health.
Yet there was also redemption for the troubled singer, who relaunched himself as a reality TV star in The Osbournes in the early 2000s, after getting clean from drink and drugs with the help of Sharon.
"The crap that I put her through when I was abusing myself - I'd disappear for weeks on end and I'd smack her in the eye and do all these horrible things, and she stuck by me and she got me through all kinds of stuff," Ozzy said.
In later years, Ozzy became much more than just a singer.
Along with Sharon and his kids, they became global TV sensations through their groundbreaking fly-on-the-wall documentary The Osbournes.
It was such a smash hit that it paved the way for similar reality shows featuring Paris Hilton and later The Kardashians.
Only three weeks ago, the Prince of Darkness who brought light into so many lives gave us one last ­hurrah when heavy metal royalty descended on Villa Park, Birmingham, to pay their respects.
The Back to the Beginning gig ended with him - seated on a giant black throne because he could not stand - joining his Black Sabbath muckers on the songs that took him to the world stage.