Crazy Train: What Can We Learn From Ozzy Osbourne?

The former Black Sabbath founder/singer went his own way after the band decided that because of Ozzy’s out of control drug use, he was a liability for their continued success. Undaunted, Ozzy surrounded himself with the best rock guitarist on the planet, Randy Rhoads, and the most influential manager in the business, Sharon Arden (soon to become Sharon Osbourne). Together, this team established the genre of heavy metal rock and Ozzy found himself in a world-wide spotlight that cheered his increasingly outrageous performances and his on and off-stage drug-fueled antics. Since his first hit solo album “Blizzard of Ozz” and continuing with his recently released album “Scream,” Ozzy firmly established himself as a true rock legend and remains an icon of our time.

In his 2009 autobiography, I Am Ozzy, he makes no effort to diminish or deny the alcohol and other drug abuse that has affected him for all of his adult life. Beginning in his Black Sabbath days, the drugs of choice in Ozzy’s British hangouts were alcohol and marijuana with a few hallucinogens like LSD and Mescaline thrown in every now and then. If it was a drug and if he could get his hands on it, Ozzy consumed it with his characteristic zeal; he continued in this way all through his solo career with brief and unsuccessful stabs at sobriety.

Now truly sober for the first time in 40 years, Ozzy celebrated his 62nd birthday on 3 December, 2010. He recently made news when he announced – with the utmost sincerity – that he would like to donate his body to science in hopes that scientists could discover why, after so many years of crippling his body with alcohol and other drugs in extreme excess, he maintains very good health and has no after-effects at all from his "dope-fueled" years. To his millions of fans world-wide, his sobriety clearly shows in his television appearances, sold-out concerts, and the masterful heavy metal vigor of his new “Scream” album. 

Other rock icons like Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Stephen Tyler also don’t quibble about their massive drug use “back in the day.” The surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney, have also acknowledged their use of marijuana and hallucinogens. Yet all these aging but still very vital musical masters' episodes pale in comparison to when Ozzy Osbourne recounts the decades when his life was ruled by substance abuse. Ozzy wonders, quite frankly, "why am I still alive?"

What Can We Learn From Ozzy?

What can we learn from Ozzy’s survival and even prosperity in his later years? What might we learn if Ozzy has his wish and donates his body to science? First, Ozzy has always had a family support system from his wife, Sharon, for more than 30 years. Sharon is a feisty, highly intelligent and strong woman who set limits on Ozzy’s drugged-out behavior. For example, when he was in an alcoholic blackout and tried to strangle her, Sharon had Ozzy arrested for attempted murder and dropped these charges only when he agreed to clean up his act. In a multitude of ways, Sharon created the rock superstar image of her beloved husband and managed to also watch over his safety and well-being when Ozzy was unable to do so. 

Another survival factor Ozzy may have going for him is the lack of drug abuse in his family of origin. He was born John Michael Osbourne in Birmingham, England, to rock-solid, robust working-class parents; neither they nor Ozzy’s siblings have been plagued by addiction and they continue to enjoy excellent health. Could Ozzy’s sturdy genetic makeup have anything to do with his own now healthy aging? Ozzy hopes that future science and technology will answer this question.

Finally, the factor of plain old good luck may have sustained Ozzy through the years. He writes about his struggles with ADHD as a child and, as an adult, with episodic depression that’s occasionally tinged with a small degree of psychosis and mania. Ozzy has often spoken of the role that destiny played in his life. When times were the hardest, especially after the accidental death of his dearest friend, Randy Rhoads, Ozzy carried on because he knew that he must – rock and roll was his only destiny. 

Happy birthday, Prince of Darkness – “Let me hear you scream!”