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John Michael Osbourne (born December 3, 1948, in Aston, West Midlands, United Kingdom), better known as Ozzy Osbourne, was the lead singer of the rock band Black Sabbath and later a popular solo artist and reality television star. Osbourne has been married twice and is father to five children: Jessica Hobbs and Louis Osbourne by first wife Thelma Riley; and Aimee, Kelly and Jack, by current wife Sharon. It has been stated Ozzy's first wife was Thelma Mayfair. This is incorrect, her last name is Riley. (*)
When Ozzy was in school he was classmates with his future guitarist Tony Iommi. Ozzy was often bullied by him. "I hated the sight of him" said Iommi in an interview with Guitar World.Ozzy earned his nickname in his youth, sought a career as a rock singer after hearing The Beatles on the radio, in hopes that it would lift him out of his difficult working-class existence, in which he had some scrapes with the law. Ozzy was not a particularly talented criminal. He wore gloves to steal from houses and shops so as not to leave fingerprints, but they were fingerless gloves and he was soon arrested. He was sentenced to six weeks at Winson Green Prison. He used his time there to give himself his now famous tattoos: OZZY across his knuckles and a smiling face on each knee to cheer himself up. He had several jobs before turning to music, including testing car horns in the Lucas car factory and on the kill floor of an abattoir. Osbourne slowly began to realize his ambitions in 1967; after filling in on vocals for a band called The Music Machine, he landed the singer's duties in an outfit called The Approach, playing R&B tunes in a church basement. Personal differences led Ozzy to split with the group, however. Thanks in part to the advantage of owning his own P.A. equipment his next gig was with a group called Rare Breed, where he met and played with future Black Sabbath bandmate, bassist Terence "Geezer" Butler. Rare Breed didn't last a long time, but Osbourne's collaboration with Butler did; in late 1968, Butler was invited to form a new group with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, both formerly of a fairly local group called Mythology.Iommi at the time didn't now who he was about to meet. When he met Ozzy he told Bill Ward "No, I know this guy" but Ward insisted at giving him a chance. At Butler's urgings, Osbourne was brought on board, along with saxophonist Alan Clarke and another guitar player, Jim Phillips, to form the Polka Tulk Blues Band. Ozzy came up with the name after seeing it on a can of talcum powder, it is also said it came from a Pakistani clothing store in his hometown called The Polka Tulk Clothing Company. Iommi's style of guitar playing did not mesh well with Phillips's, however, nor with Clarke's saxophone. Polka Tulk disbanded, to reform almost immediately as a four-piece called Earth consisting of Osbourne, Iommi, Butler, and Ward.
Ozzy Osbourne Discography
Album
2003 Complete Set [Book/CD]
2003 Ozzy Osbourne Collector's Box
2002 Maximum
2002 Ozzmosis [Expanded]
2002 No More Tears [Bonus Tracks]
2002 Live at Budokan
2002 Bark at the Moon [Expanded]
2002 Blizzard of Ozz [Bonus Track]
2002 No Rest for the Wicked [Expanded]
2002 Live at Budokan [Clean]
2002 X-Posed
2002 Diary of a Madman [Bonus Track]
2001 Down to Earth [Limited Edition]
2001 Down to Earth
2001 Ozz Talk
2000 Private Talks
1999 97.7 HTZ-FM Interview
1995 Ozzmosis
1995 Trust Me
1993 Live & Loud
1991 No More Tears
1990 Just Say Ozzy
1989 No Rest for the Wicked
1987 Tribute
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