Piers Morgan Uncensored - “I’m Choking Up!” Gene Simmons & Piers Morgan on Ozzy Osbourne

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

Ozzy Osbourne has passed away at the age of 76 - and leaves behind an incredible legacy, from his pioneering mark on heavy metal music with his band Black Sabbath, to domineering reality TV with his chaotic family in ‘The Osbournes’. Piers Morgan had the pleasure of knowing Ozzy, having worked alongside his wife Sharon Osbourne on America’s Got Talent - and today shares some of his favourite memories of the Prince of Darkness, alongside some notable guests. First up, Piers speaks to KISS legend Gene Simmons, who shares his insights into Ozzy the man and musician. Then, Uncensored is joined by TV producer Howie Mandel and music critic from The Needle Drop YouTube channel Anthony Fantano. Piers Morgan Uncensored is proudly independent and supported by: OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code PIERS at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before Ozzy, there was no such thing as Ozzy. There never was an Ozzy before. There's not going to be another Ozzy later. Good evening, Ozzy. Hello there. How are you? Five. I don't want to make anybody start doing all this devil worship crap, but that's not my intention.

Drugs are okay at the time. We had grew them, you know. Direct reach of a cocktail of a bar. They all look at me as if I've just landed from Mars, you know. Ozzy Osbourne. You never know what you've had until you've lost it. I thought it was lost big time. They're going to grab a fine on some pretty he.

Thank you for the barren. Ozzy Osbourne was truly a legend for his music, his personality, for his second actor as a reality TV superstar, and also for the family that he raised, who were beloved by millions across the planet for that TV show in their name, The Osbournes. I did America's Got Talent for a few years with Sharon. I got to know both her and Ozzy really well.

I'm proud to call them both good friends. And 56 years ago, Ozzy and his band Black Sabbath taped their first album in one session in the home city of Birmingham. Ozzie made sure they rapped in time to get to the pub for last orders. I'm pretty sure he had no idea. He just invented a whole new genre of music and that he would end up getting shout out some of the United States president for starring in the biggest TV show in the world.

But he took everything in his stride, even though his life was a bit of a fairy tale. And if you could have scripted a fairy tale ending, it would have surely been playing his final show just two weeks ago at his favorite team stadium in his hometown with his old band and with his whole family backstage. I once asked Ozzy, he was one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. But I once asked him what was the greatest moment of his life? And without any hesitation, he just replied, meeting Sharon. And I think that sums him up. Ozzy deserves every tribute that he gets.

So we're clearing this show right now to do just that. And we're going to begin with another giant of rock music, Gene Simmons. Gene, welcome back to Unsensored. I've got to say, it was a real gut punch to me hearing the news about Ozzy, not because it was surprising that he reached his late 70s and then had died because he challenged his body for many decades in a way that would have finished lesser mortals off. But it was the fact that it came just two weeks after this extraordinary farewell show back in Birmingham where it all began for him. The poignancy of Ozzy dying just two weeks later was very striking, I thought.

What were your thoughts when you heard? First of all, I appreciate you reaching out and the BBC reached out. I mean, I had no plans of commenting except on Twitter to send my... prayers and condolences to Sharon and the family, but I have such vivid memories of meeting Ozzy and Sabbath, of course, but meeting Ozzy first over 50 years ago, and then here and there through the decades. And I found out for my kids, you know, they kept trying to get me up, really early in the morning, texting. and calling, and I thought it was fake news.

But the images that I got, and first of all, I was devastated, because let me just put it succinctly here. Before Ozzy, there was no such thing as Ozzy. There never was an Ozzy before. There's not going to be another Ozzy later. His stagecraft, who he was and continues to be in the minds of the fans, on stage, this isn't something that you learn in school. He just was who he was, not taking any direction from anybody,

despite disco and smith, you know, and thrash and whatever else was going on. He was always Aussie. And the love he had for the fans, he expressed it on stage. Yes, the Prince of Darkness, but who, as the Prince of Darkness would say, I love you, would throw kisses to the fans. I mean, it was really striking. I just want to say my experiences, and I'm sure yours,

meeting Ozzy face-to-face, is like meeting your next-door neighbor. Just a matter-of-fact guy, no heirs, not pretending to be. I reluctantly admit that sometimes I'm full of myself. I'm aware that I watch myself in videos and I'm thinking, who does this guy think he is? Yes, guilty is charged.

Ozzy, never. Oh, hi, Jean. I don't know just to see you and everything. And all of a sudden you're disarmed and you're, you know, maybe I should bring the level of kind of a big deal down. But I want to say a word about Sharon. If you, if anybody got close to the Osborne family or said anything a little off color, even just about Ozzy, this is a lioness, she will take your head off. Oh, yeah. I know.

I got some of that. You know, half joking or whatever, it was like, oh, oh, this is the lioness protecting her family. And maybe the fans think of Ozzy in the obvious ways, the Prince of Darkness and, you know, all the stage. But who he was, it seems to me, whenever I've run into him, is a loving family man who, devoted to his family, loved his wife and kids, and you don't see that. Perhaps people got a glimpse of it

when they watched the reality show. And you see Ozzy at home, sort of being your next-door neighbor and lovable, really. You know, loud pets and a family that loves them and where'd you put my slippers and, you know, all that. Truly, they wouldn't have been our reality show without the Osbournes.

But Ozzy and Sabbath, without knowing it, really decided to, you know, stomp their feet down and say, we are who we are and not worry about what's popular or not. And in so doing, created a new genre where bands were not afraid to go up to the marshal and turn it up to tennis. You know, Tony, most people don't know this, doesn't have usage of all his fingers. plays court, one and five musicians will know what I'm talking about because he had an accident in a factory and one of his fingers was filed off. So he plays, you know, not with all his fingers. And that sound is unmistakable. That sound is unmistakable. In fact, Tony and I, for, you know, for a joke for a short time, we're thinking of putting together a power trio called the Monsters. We talked

about it, we met and so on. But of course, he went back to his true love, Black Sabbath. Look, at the end of the day, no matter what idiots like yours truly or anybody talking about, as he says, the real eulogy should come from the fans, millions of them who loved, worshipped, and respected somebody who truly loved them. If anybody, you talked to them, you talked to anybody who's ever met Ozzy, you'll find somebody who says, this is the guy I'd love to see living next door to me. I'll tell you a quick one. Somebody interviewed me yesterday about all sorts of things, and what do you think about Ozzie and stuff like that? I said, oh, you know, it's heartbreaking. I remember what a sweet, what a gentle soul. And the guy started tearing up. And I said,

what, he says, you know, I was at K&AC, this radio station. I'd never met Ozzy. I was so blessed that he said, okay, I want to be on your show and he's coming down the hallway to interview the guy and Ozzy's arms were out like a long lost family member coming towards him and when he came towards him he hugged him and this

rock jock all of a sudden started to tear up. He couldn't believe how open and loving Ozzy was it was just... You know he was I got to know him around about 2007 because I did America's Got Talent.

Sharon was a judge with me. And, you know, we used to spend a lot of time together. And Ozzy would often fly in and just hang out with us. We'd have dinner. We'd have lunches. Crazy stuff. Always incredibly entertaining, incredibly down to earth, very friendly, very solicitous,

always asking about the family and your life and how things are going. But you're so right about Sharon. You know, Sharon was his massive protective shield. And she was the ultimate lioness. And if you, you know, I was with her when people, if she saw journalists or celebrities mocking Ozzy for the way he talked or whatever, she would go absolutely ballistic in his defense. And she was, she was a ferocious lioness.

And she, you know, by her own omission, they did not have the perfect marriage at all. You know, Ozzy was a pretty naughty boy for a long time. but she never doubted the strength of their union. And anyone that was around them, like I used to be, a lot, it was one of the strongest relationships I've ever seen. And it's not to say he was an angel. He wouldn't have claimed to be. And Sharon wouldn't claim he was.

They gave interviews about it many times. But they had an unbelievably deep relationship, which was so crystal clear. And, you know, I really, I just, the first thought I had when I heard was great sadness that Aussie had died, but then just absolute heartbreak for Sharon because I think she'll just feel very lost without him. Summer is here, and everyone knows to protect their skin from the sun.

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You know, I just want to bring out a point. The vast majority of fans haven't really had the honor of being around Aussie and seeing the man, you know, under the Prince of Darkness. You know, the guy who, just your next door neighbor, as it were. But I just want to say that I don't think he ever cared whether he was this year's favorite flavor or winning awards or any of that. He was thrilled. I've never, ever heard anyone. And I've seen lots of Aussie shows, Sabbath shows, read reviews.

He never said a bad word. word, number one, about anybody that I've ever been around. I've never heard of me negative about anybody, and this is a backbiting business. A lot of people have all kinds of opinions. Ozzy was most comfortable in his own skin, perhaps the most comfortable person I've ever seen in his own skin. A hundred percent. Yeah. We found some great clips of him. I want to just play a few of them. One is actually that it's Black Sabbath's first interview that is available to be seen these days. Take a look at this. What do you do with to relax?

Smoked marijuana. You were joking when you said that, of course. Yeah, right. I mean, even then, the cheeky smile, the sense of mischief, naughty boy, talking about smoking, marijuana and so on, you know, they looked and sounded so different. But it's extraordinary that they just did this album, you know, in such short period of time. and it was a revolutionary record, wasn't it, in the industry? Well, when you first heard it, I mentioned this before elsewhere

that I was reading Rolling Stone, and when you got to the back cover, there was an ad, a black ad with silhouettes of figures. You didn't quite know what it was. Black Sabbath. But the headline said, Black Sabbath louder than Led Zeppelin. I went, oh, my God, I've got to check this band on. What's this?

about. And in the early days, we found ourselves playing with Sabbath, three or four shows, 1974, I think it was. And it was not a big hall, 3,000 seats maybe. And on the way off the stage, Gyser was off stage, you know, the great bass player. And with the heels on everything, I was about seven feet tall and Gyser is not. Gyser is, you know, regular height. And Ozzy tells the story of how Giza goes back to Ozzy and starts talking, what's this band, you know, the blowing up bombs and all, what's that about? But I tell you what happened is on the way off the stage, Ozzy was going on the stage, and we were going by each other,

and I was aware, oh, this is the lead singer of Black Sabbath. And he walked over and he put his hand out, he says, Hello, I'm Ozzie, nice to see you. I was so, you know, I was fully in my, with the call, you know, the stage thing. And he was good. Just matter of fact, hi. I'm Ozzie. Nice to see you.

I was so caught off guard. And then he went outstage and went crazy. What a giant. You know, people have called me people in the industry, but there were two fans who were on the phone together. that I happened to know, and they couldn't get the words out. They were just bawling. They were just crying, kept crying. One would start talking about, you know, remember when Ozzy,

and then they would get back to cry. And he was a giant, what a terrible, terrible loss. And, Gene, from a technical, you know, musical perspective, how good a singer was Ozzy Osbourne? he's never gotten the credit Ozzie never tried to change his voice you know when I sing

in kiss or when Hetfield or anybody gets up there and we put on the gruff you know we put on the meat grinder in our voice to try to do that Ozzy was always Ozzy

he sang melody you know it's funny Ozzie and I ran into each other at an event and we were sitting with each other and talking and he said this in public, but he said it to my face. I said, so what do you think?

What kind of music you're like? Oh, I love the Beatles. Oh, yeah, me too. Me too. Who else? I love Abba. Abba? Yes.

Yeah, without, you know, the rest of us are all trying to pick the right things to say to bolster our public image. Ozzie didn't give a squat. He was Ozzy and caution be damned. Take it or leave it. Maybe the Greeks, maybe the Greeks were right after all, to thine own self be true.

Ozzy was always Ozzy and he was not a made-up thing. We created our stage personas, you know, with the makeup and the stick in my tongue out and all that stuff. Ozzy, you know, just walked out on stage and, you know, like Gestalt therapy, just let it all hang out. And the love and admiration, not just of the industry, but the fans, is unequal. I know right now there are millions of fans. Yeah. I'm getting choked up myself. There are millions of fans who are just devastated and crying.

What a giant. You know, he'd have loved us doing this because he sent me a lovely text. I just remembered it last night. He said, Hi, Piers, this is last year. I just want you to know, I think your show is the best show ever. I'm addicted to watching. It's all I'm watching now.

I love it, keep up with good work, much love and respect, Ozzy. And he used to do that every now and again. He sent me notes about stuff he'd seen me do, whatever. He was just a really good mate. I don't claim to be one of his closest friends, but I was very close with Sharon. I saw a lot of Aussie. And he was such a sweet, natured guy and such a...

Yeah. And he didn't like to be too politically partisan. He liked to hear stuff. He liked to just know what to think about things. Yeah. He also... The rest of us all think, you know, we're such big deals and our opinions really matter.

That's delusional, myself included. what do you think about politics? What do you think about labor? What do you think about this? Who gives the squat? Shut up and do what you do on stage. And Ozzy just intrinsically knew, I am, you know, sort of like Popeye. I am what I am.

And he also knew how to, I knew we're great at this still are. He knew how to run with a good controversy. The most famous, of course, being that the, this time he ate the bat on stage. Now, people probably don't know the half of this, but I think originally they thought it was a toy bat that had been thrown on stage, and he picked it up instinctively and took a big old munch. And at that point, he realized it was actually a real bat.

And I once asked him, I said, what was it like? And he went, well, I'll tell you one thing. He said, bat's taste fucking awful. But let's take a look at a clip of him talking about the bat. Let's watch. Good evening, Arzi. Hello there. How are you?

Five. You get all these crazy people that come and throw these junk on stage and, you know. I thought it was one of these rubber bats. I pictured it up, it was a real bat. Was it alive? Well, it was till I bit the head of it, you know? The taste of bats is very salty. Taste of salt.

Tastes like anything else? Well, yes, but I can't really say that on the air, can I, you? I mean, and of course, he... He loved that story because it just added to the general notoriety. It was what made him different. He was the ultimate kind of rock naughty boy. I remember I did a thing with Motley Crew when I was at CNN. And we went down to one of the, I think it was Whiskey a Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard.

And I interviewed them there because they played many times. And they had some outrageous times with Ozzy Oswald. Well, they would snort ants, you know, pretending it was cocaine. Oh, I know. They try and outgross each other. And they all basically said when it came to outrageous gross behavior, nobody could live with Ozzy Osbourne. Yeah.

But intrinsically at the center of this was a family man who loved his family fiercely. And Sharon and the kids, that's what I saw. You know, we were standing in line as it happens, our family. we were going to go to a movie, and I mentioned this in another interview, and ahead of us were the Osbournes. So I was about to say, you know, hello,

and I think it was Ozzie who turned around and says, oh, how are you? And you would think, we would say, oh, remember that show when we did in 1804 and so, but it wasn't about that. Ozzie immediately asked, how's the family, how are the kids? Yeah.

You know, like, I can't even, I don't know. any other stage personality, actors, you know, sort of people in the industry who were like that, sort of... He had no ego. He had no ego, was it? Yeah. That was the thing I was felt. So many people in his position would have had gigantic egos,

but he didn't. And actually, in another way, he reminded me of Eugene, because, you know, he was a great sort of man for stagecraft. Oh, I couldn't shine his shoes. Well, you're being very modest, but you know, You've also been one of the all-time great front men for a rock band. And the way I think you were similar was you understood the power of stagecraft and of costume and of theater and all those things.

And there's a clip I want to play. This is Ozzy talking about the reputation that Black Sabbath got, the Prince of Darkness, people questioning, is he an actual Satanist? He got interviewed by Haraldo Rivera about this. Let's take a look. For some reason, maybe it's because you've been around for so long, I see tattoos of your name on some of these teenage devil worshippers arms. Wherever I see devil graffiti and satanic graffiti, I see your name also.

Do you feel a sense of responsibility, Oz? The only responsibility I feel is the fact that I'm a true musician of what I play. I don't want to make anybody start doing all this devil worship crap, because that's not my intention, although I have sung on a few songs, about the devil, you know, that's about it, you know, I don't want anyone to harm themselves. I think, Gene, it was, to him, this was

theater, right? Well, you can say the same thing about Boris Karloff at Bell Logosie, or, you know, anybody who did horror movies and stuff, so, do you really kill people? Come on. Come on. There's, you know, there's art, and then there are real people.

And when you're expressing yourself, you know, it's poetic license. I, you know, if you knew him, I'll say this, and I said it elsewhere, there are kings and queens and politicians and, you know, really important people like you and all kinds of people. Not everybody likes them. Ozzy is universally loved. He is beloved. He's a beloved figure, continues to be.

People love Ozzy. you may not even be a fan. You just are drawn to who Ozzy is. Yeah. He will continue. And I said this a few hours ago. My recommendation is that shut off all the noise, shut off all the noise, turn off TikTok and schmickstock and all that other idiotic stuff.

Turn off your TV. Lock yourself in a room and put on some stuff. Sabbath. Right. You know, we all have our favorite records. I like number four. Just put it on and let Ozzy take you away. The extraordinary thing about Ozzy was he split from Sabbath. They had a lot of arguments during the heavy drug usage era. And he then became a massive solo star, which is, yeah, not... That's Sharon. That's Sharon. Don't kid yourself. That's Sharon. That's Sharon. That's Sharon. crafting, she saw, from my point of view, and I'm nobody, she saw what Ozzy is and could be and carefully crafted who that is. And Ozzy would have told you. He told me that. We were in London. I have to say this story because it just, the lioness came out.

In the 80s, we were in London, and I think we were headlining one of the festivals or something, and the phone rings of the hotel. It's Ozzy on the phone. And he's, jean, I don't, you know, I don't feel good. You know, I've just recorded a record. Well, it's good to hear from you. What's up? Just recorded an album, and it's terrible, and I want you to hear it. I said, well, you know, tell Sharon, and I'm sure you'll figure it out.

No, no, I want you to come over and hear it. I didn't know what to say, so I got into a car, went over, and it gave me the address, and then it came in. came in the kitchen and he sits down and puts on one of these little boom boxes and plays shot in the dark you know i'm going oh you know that's really good what's matter with i don't like the sound i don't like the thing there was a producer named ron neverson he didn't like it he didn't do it and i want my hand on a bible he said to me i want you to come in and produce you know try, re-recorded and do that.

And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you've got to talk to Sharon. No, I want you to do that. All right, let me get back to you. And I went back to the hotel. I didn't know what to think about it. And I finally heard from Sharon when she found out the story, and she said, pretty much. Are you out of your mind? You think I'm going to let you know, the line has came out.

And, yeah. Ozzy left to his own devices, you know, who knows what would have happened. Sharon is guardian angel, continues to be. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. Get in front of Sharon and say something off-color and see what happens to your head. I saw it many times.

And it's one of the reasons I love Sharon. She's all in and she's, there was no one was ever going to come between her and her husband or a family. that was just like that was the line you if you knew you didn't cross it and she got a lot of that tough street from her own father was a very hard guy I was at one of the parties early on before I went into a I hope I'm not speaking out of school I went to an early party limo takes you up a hill and there are guys there with shotguns or something

and what kind of a party is this and I went in and met Mr. Arden And you, this, you know, I don't want to go into history, but this was a tough guy. Yeah, yeah. No, very. We've got another clip I also want to play you. This is about Ozzie talking about America with Sharon.

Let's take a look. We came to America, and we thought, like, drugs and all that was just a part of the gig, you know. You just get stoned and you just get, dope and make your gig and all that. And what happened with Black Sabbath? We all ended up junkies and alcoholics and everything. Like the drummer ended up in a rehabilitation centre, I did for a while. And in the end, disaster happens.

It's inevitable to happen disaster, because it's like drugs, they were okay at the time, but we outgrew them, you know. We just, you know, we took LSD, we took cocaine, we took vast amounts of marijuana. It was fun at the time, but then we all just sort of, so this isn't a very good idea anymore.

What I love about that clip, Gene, I don't know if you'd actually see it, but he manages to keep talking whilst pouring half of the orange juice out of the glass, which was classic Aussie. There was always an element of sort of chaos around the Osbournes, which they all seem to sort of thrive on. And Ozzy was at the center of it looking vaguely bemused about everything, which I used to love. But again, we forget that the rest of the idiots who populate this earth will try to hide that.

they're not going to admit. Yes. Yeah, I used to use and I did this and I did that. I used just right up front. You know, this is what I did. I went to rehab. I did this. No excuses, no nothing.

Yes, I did that. Yeah, that wasn't a smart thing. And it was just very, all the cards on the table. And I, you have never met anybody like this. No, I never have. I completely, there was only one Ozzy Osbourne. There is a, there was a rumor, which I think he put a, It was you that got him into groupies.

Any truth to that, Gene? We spoke of it, but I wasn't there. You know what? Sharon just said to me once. She knew exactly who she was married to. Warts and all, good, bad, sometimes ugly, but always just the most ferocious love between them. You know, I interviewed him and him and Sharon a few times

over the years. And it's always interesting when you interview people. I mean, I sort of feel the same about you, actually, because we've got to know each other doing a celebrity apprentice and then became good friends. And then when you interview your friend, it's a different dynamic, you know.

But I interviewed him when I was a Good Morning Britain, and he talked about Sharon. Let's take a look at this. How close did you come, Sharon, to kicking him out? Oh, just, I was just really broken in every sense. She caught every sleeve off every coat I own. Did she? Yeah.

I said to Ozzy, if you ever do this to me again, I'm going to cut your hair off or I'm going to cut all your clothes. Would you rather have had your hair all cut off all the clothes? I wish I hadn't had the stupid thing that I did to get to want that either that happening. And that's the truth because you never know what you've had until you've lost it. And I thought I'd lost a big time. It's quite a poignant interview, actually, because for all the kind of naughty behavior, underpinning it, Ozzy couldn't live without Sharon and Sharon couldn't live without Aussie. And that's what's so sad I think about today is that Sharon now doesn't have him.

You know, my heart genuinely breaks for her for that. And the kids, the father is gone. Yeah. You know, the patriarch. I mean, it's just... I saw a video of Jack Osborne's little kid pointing at the TV when Ozzy was on one of the videos and just, you know, being enthralled and all that.

It's just a terrible thing. Gene, just finally, where will Ozzy Osbourne rank in the pantheon of great rock stars, do you think? a completely unique, a unique, a giant. I mean, I sort of see, we all love Jagger and lots of people, but you can pick bits and pieces of where there was a movie called The Tammy Show, and James Brown came out before the Stones, and he was doing all the stuff, splits, and doing his dancing.

And you see Jagger backstage, it's in the movie. I know he's going to say, no, that didn't happen. And I'm a big fan. So he's binding his nails when James Brown comes off. And then for the first time, because I've seen the songs before, he came out and tried to do his own sort of physical, you know, movements on stage, a white version. Jagger continues today.

When you see him move, he's doing James Brown, his version, which is great. We all have our reference points of what inspired you and so on. I can't for the life of me figure out where Ozzy came from. Or who created Ozzy besides God? You can't point to it. You know, not in, he loved the Beatles. Yeah.

But I don't see the Beatles in the song writing. There's a very moving clip that's done the rounds on social media. which I saw a few years ago, and I saw it again last night. And it's where he meets Paul McCartney for the first time. And it's only about 15, 20 years ago. And it's so moving because he says to him, I mean, you know, Ozzy's like a fan, a star-struck fan. And Paul's really nice to him.

And he says, you know, you're why I got into music, Ozzie says to him. It was the Beatles. And it's the most unlikely inspiration for what Sabbath then became. You know, they became this iconic, you know, heavy metal group. the guitarist, the dark lyrics, the powerful vocals, all that stuff, about as far removed from the Beatles as you could imagine.

And yet, you know, they had this real moment together where Ozzy said, you were the one, you guys were the people that inspired me. And I guess, you know, great, great performers, singers, musicians, they can get inspiration in different ways. They don't have to get it from people that look and sound like them, right? Well, I'll push back on that a little bit. You can pick it.

If you love the Beatles, and you can pick out Carl Perkins and Motown and stuff, the Everly Brothers and the Chuck Berry. You can pick that out and say, oh, here are the building blocks and the puzzle. I see what they did. Ozzy walks out on stage. You have no idea where that came from.

Tony as well. Tony playing his guitar. I don't know where that came from. Scientists called out a singular. It's very rare when it happens. I can't think of another stage performer who, a stage presence, not a performer, performers going through the motions.

When Ozzy went out there, you may as well have had a shrink out there. It's all out there. It's all out there. You're just full-on emotion giving it. And when he walks off stage, he's drenched. But he was also like that as a person. He was all out there as a person.

person. He was an open book, Ozzy. And so Sharon, they're both like that. And I do think that even though it's very sad that he's died, I do think it was quite wonderful that the last thing he did in public life

was to go back to his hometown with his old band, surrounded by mates, Metallica, guns of roses and others, and to put on what was a terrific show. I saw some of the clips online. It was fantastic. And he was in this, you know, in a wheelchair where they put him in a big black throne

and they rose him up and for that night Ozzy was king again back in Birmingham with his mates with all his family backstage and I just think if he could have scripted actually the last we ever saw of him it wouldn't get better than that. You know I think as a foreigner it bears noting that you know people leave their hometowns wherever they are

and when they go to big cities, they change their accent and stuff. Ozzie may have scaled the heights, but he's always been a brummy. Yeah. You know, can't take Manchester out of his jeans. It's so, I mean, we can talk about what it all means. It's so poetic in the cosmic design and all that stuff.

But in the real world, it's just tragic. Somebody was just coming. and I've got to go to my thing. But, my heart. I really appreciate it. I really wanted to talk to you because I knew how well you knew him. And you've talked so affectionately and so respectfully about him and painted the picture of what a great musician and singer he was

and what a trailblazer he was in so many ways. But also that ultimately he was just a great guy, a great guy who loved his family, loved his friends and loved musicians. Like no one I've ever met. And again, my prayers and condolences to Sharon and the family. And by the way, I haven't, you know, through the years, Sharon and I have barely spoken here and there because we're scared to death of her. She is.

She will take your head off if you're about to say something in jest, poof. But I can't tell you the admiration and love I have. for Ozzy and the family. But this will continue. The Osbourne show is going to be rerung, and all the new kids, new 15-year-old kids are going to rediscover Ozzy and Sabbath. It will continue.

Yeah, it will. Gene Simmons, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Ozzie didn't just revolutionize music. He changed television forever, too. Who knows how to make this thing work? I'm turning out of work. Mom, how come he doesn't have to work?

Right there. Okay. Okay. Ah, here we go. No. Would you like that Shane have fun to back then? Please.

You plugged in, though? Yeah, plug it in. Let's just step on that. It's supposed to work? No, you don't. That's my button. How come none of us? Don't know how to work there.

The start of the millennium, the Osbournes became MTV's highest rating show ever, just as he'd done with heavy metal. Ozzie created a whole new genre, reality TV. We're here to reflect on that part of his life, a good friend of Osborne family and of mine. Howie Mandel, Howie, thank you very much for joining me. I wanted to talk to people about Ozzy,

who I know knew him and knew Sharon really well. You and I work with Sharon, of course, and America's Got Talent. First of all, your reaction just to the sad news that he's passed? Heartbroken. This was, and you know this, better than anybody. This was not only a,

it was a beautiful family. This is a wonderful. They are the gold medal of families. And I know that they became big for like crazy and wacky behavior and people talk about that.

But at the heart of even the television show that you just showed was a real sense of family, of love, of my heart is just broken and in one way it there's some you can take some solace in knowing that

Ozzy is no longer suffering I think he has been he has been suffering for years now with health issues and the inability to do what he loves to do and my heart was filled a week or two ago in watching what we all love you know people talk about about like after we die, people come and they do eulogies and they have an outpouring of their respect and how wonderful you were. He got to, Sharon actually built this epic concert

that where he was celebrated and the fact that he got to see that and be part of it and the world got to see that and be part of it. And that's going to go on. I read that that's going to be a feature film and it's going to be released later on. It was so beautiful.

But at the same time, so heartbreaking because you know, probably even better than I know, Sharon has been the glue in this family and through hardships and whatever

foils, you know, it came their way. She has held it together and she's that glue and it was the reason I think that their show was so big is because subliminally you knew that there was such love and respect and real family.

And you know that family came first for Ozzy, for Sharon, for those kids. And we all want to be as good and as cohesive a family as they were. And I think they're the prime example to the world of what a family should be, could be. Yeah, you know what I liked about them. I was saying Mr. Gene Simmons earlier that they didn't pretend to be perfect human beings. They embraced their flaws. They were very open and candid about stuff that went wrong. You know, Sharon never claimed to have the perfect marriage.

She knew who she was married to. She knew he was a bit of a wild boy, Ozzy. But Ozzy said to me many times, you know, he could never have done any of this without Sharon and that he could never imagine life without Sharon. Sharon said to me many times, she could never imagine life without Ozzy. That's why I find this moment so heartbreaking,

particularly for Sharon, because, you know, this has been her entire life, has been devoted to this wild guy who just loved her just with this extraordinary passion. And, you know, like I say, they weren't claiming to have a perfect marriage, but they had the most ferocious love for each other. I think I've ever seen.

Well, you know, in this day and age, they say one out of, you know, four marriages, one out of three marriages don't last. And I think that people have a tendency, they don't have the wherewithal to just hang on. and there's value in being able to hang on. And life is not perfect. Nobody is perfect.

And horrible, horrible, you know, shit happens, you know. And she has been an emblem and Ozzy also an emblem for even though their shit, like hang on, it's worth it. It really is worth it. And they, life is tough. And they were great examples of how to get up when you've been knocked down. and to just keep going. A hundred percent. I always look to them.

You know, I've also, I've been married for 46 years and, you know, and didn't go through a fraction of what they have gone through. And I just looked to them and thought, oh, my God, this is amazing. They are, Sharon, and Sharon I knew best out of anybody in the family. I find her to be like a superhero. She really is like a superhero for life. And I don't think the show, I don't think people understand why they enjoyed things.

And as crazy as that reality TV, like right now, reality TV doesn't reach the heights that the Osbournes reached. And the reason they had so much success is all the craziness and all the great things that you remember under it was this bond. Yes. That you couldn't, you knew even when they were yelling at each other.

And even when they were swearing and bad language, and bad things were happening, there was this love and this connection that we all try to strive through to. And today, you know, a lot of reality TV is, like, if we can get some bad behavior and see that and be a shock and try to break through, that's what they go through.

But there's not a real cohesive, human kind of love and respect that they constantly had for each other as a family. And even for his music, you know, he was, he loved music. He didn't do his work just to be famous. He happened to become famous. He did his work because he loved it.

He was a huge fan of the Beatles. And he created his own genre, which became heavy metal. And everybody that I know that's in that business, he was like a God, but that's not who he set out to be. You know, he was just so real. And that's what people attached to. I remember going to their house and just watching him sit at a dining room table and draw. He would sit when he was quiet and doodle.

His doodles are epic art. He didn't do it sell it. He didn't do it because I want to be an artist. He didn't even talk about it. Whatever he did, these are pure, he's a pure soul. They embody what humanity, relationships, and family should be. He was also how, he was also bloody funny. I mean, just endlessly hilarious.

And in fact, I've just been reminded of something that I'd just never stop laughing about at the time. I went for dinner with Ozzy and Sharon in Miami and Kelly came along, their daughter, with a boyfriend she had at the time, no longer with this guy for many years. But they turned up and we're having this dinner. And I was having a great time for Sharon and Ozzy. I could tell that Kelly was getting slowly bored.

And eventually she went, you old people are fucking boring, we're leaving. And stood up and left. And they went out the back. And Sharon and Ozzie were completely stunned. And they went off, and they went round the side of the restaurant to where there was like these French windows,

and then the pair of them dropped their trousers, and they moonied through the window at Sharon, Ozzy and me. And Sharon and Ozzy were outraged. They were like, this is absolutely shocking. And then I looked at them, and they looked at me, and we all fell about laughing. And I went, it's the environment kids grow up in. And we all fell about laughing.

But it was hilarious to see Ozzy and Sharon finally been called so boring that their daughter couldn't stand. another second that their dinner table. And then their mock outrage at a bit of moony. And you think, of all the things you two would be outraged by. But it was a hilarious moment and we laughed like drains. Sharon had this,

as you know, he's got this incredibly infectious cackle. And Ozzy would then start and we were just in tears laughing at this hilarious little vignette. And that used to happen all the time. And it's why the Osbournes was such a massive TV show? Because it was so real. This stuff

just happened to them. It was kind of It was hilarious. It was slightly mad. And underneath it, like you say, was this underpinning of warmth and real love and real family. They were the first time that I was aware of seeing authenticity. You know, they weren't, you know, what happened, I guess what happened is, you know, eventually when you put, you know, a lot of us and even me right now with this in front of me, you know, I'm concerned about, you know, whatever. I say or how it's coming off, it seems like they didn't have a filter. None. And which could be thought of as a negative, but it turned out to be a positive because their authenticity, when they were angry, when something uncomfortable happened, they saw the humor in it, when something was tragic, you saw the heartbreak, you saw the love,

you saw everything. they were the first kind of television and family and people that were really authentic. And I know that just from working with Sharon, if Sharon thinks that what you're doing is bullshit, she will tell you. Oh, my God. Yeah. And also, when she used to miss baby, she used to throw things at me, as you know, strangle me, all sorts of stuff, used to go on.

And then she would say stuff, you know, she always react really badly to anyone who criticized the family in any way, even if they were joking. She used to go, Defcom, one immediately. And then she'd say to me the next day, oh, dear, she said, I think I'd been a bit of a naughty puss. And we'd all laugh. And she couldn't stop herself.

It would just come out. They're the unfiltered family. They're all like it. But, you know, you say unfiltered, I think it's authentic. I think that they are what we should all be. I think the problem in life is we are filtered. We don't say things that we mean.

We don't say we're not acting the way we really feel. And we're so concerned about other people think of us and how we're being perceived, whereas they didn't have that filter. And Sharon never had that filter. And I even think that, you know, even artistically, you know, Ozzie didn't have that filter. And that's why he was able to even create a genre that didn't exist. Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne didn't sound like any other. music at the time.

Yeah. And then people start emulating them and him, and they sound like a Black Sabbath. And he also became like stratosphericly famous, not just for Black Sabbath and then as a solo artist, but the Osbournes propels propelled him onto a whole kind of cultural level. And I remember the White House Correspondence Dinner in 2002. George Bush was the president of the time.

And this happened. What a fantastic audience we had tonight. Washington power brokers, celebrities, Hollywood stars, Ozzy Osborne. It might have been a mistake. And you know, he kept jumping up, Ozzie. That went on for minutes. And what was great was that everyone in that audience loved him. And one of the tricks he had.

And that's the thing. Yeah, go on. But it wasn't even a trick. He wasn't trying to be funny. No. He wasn't trying to be outrageous. It's just him. And if you look at that, that's that jubilant joy when you watch a baby, when you watch a human being that somebody that you love, the president of the United States called him out on this world stage. And, you know, if you take yourself out of that and you thought it was you, you'd go, oh, my God, oh, my God.

And they're plotting. And I just want to stand up on the table. That's what a, that's what a pure infant would do. And he was just so joyful and so lovable. And he wasn't, it is outrageous because we would all put the filter on. You know, we would all, if we got mentioned, we wouldn't feel this way, but we would just go, thank you. Thank you. And try to act. It's the president of the United States. But I'm standing there on the world stage.

I'm going to get on. That's the thing. There's no filter. And it's real. And he is doing all the things we wish we could do. He is acting the way we wish we could act. I mean, it's one of the reasons I call this. so uncensored was because I got a sense that people were just feeling massively filtered and

censored in life. And Ozzy used to love watching the show. He used to send me texts about it all the time because he loved the fact that he felt like no one was like interfering with what people could say or editing them or telling them they couldn't have an opinion. He just liked the fact it all just came out because that's how he led his life. And he couldn't understand why in democratic countries like the UK, United States, Australia, you know, why suddenly we'd all been, sort of succumbing to a movement which suppressed our right to say what we think. It just seems so sort of weird to him that that was happening. But that's the whole way.

Like even his fashion, even his style, even the way that they, that's not how people look. That's not how people dress. You know, he created that look that became hard rock. He just, because that's what he felt. That's what he liked. That's how he's saying. That's how he, you know, and he was, they, they are pure humanity. That's what I think.

And we are lacking purity. We are lacking authenticity. And we are lacking, you know, we're supposed to act a certain way. We're supposed to vote a certain way. We're supposed to think a certain way. We're not supposed to talk a certain way. We are supposed to be censored. What is censorship?

Censorship is just so that we all sound exactly the same. We don't use the words. We don't, if we, you know, humanity, and this is what I learned from just being with Sharon. You know, we're all unique individuals. Humanity is a beautiful thing. It really is. And if you could celebrate who you are and celebrate somebody else for being original and different. And, you know, we're so outspoken right now because they are original.

But they're like us because they're original. But nobody will act like that. Nobody can act like that. But if you could show your purity and yourself, you know, his love, he loved music. He loved, you know, Sharon. on my podcast. And I said, like, she was telling me, I was always fascinated by Ozzy Osmore.

And Ozzy didn't finish school. And when he left school, he was illiterate. He couldn't read or write. And he was bullied. And he just loved music. But so that I guess he was driven to just find his own little world and create his own sounds and what gave him joy. And through that, we learn like, hey, you know what?

find a path or celebrate a path and just live. He lived. He lived. He did. Always lived. You know, he's at 60 years old and 70 years old. He's on his field riding his ATVs. I mean, God forbid, it happened to anybody else, but he broke his neck.

But he's just, he loved toys. He loved playing. He loved doodling. He loves singing. He loved meeting people. He was turned on by the hymns. He went to an all-boy school or something. she was explaining to me on here.

And he heard the hymns. He loved singing along with the hymns. It was a Catholic boy school. And that's where he found his joy for music. He just enjoyed music for whatever it was. Hymns is the other end of the spectrum when it comes to, you know, hard rock. But he just, he fell in love with the poetry of putting notes together and being able to scream from your heart.

And that's what he did. And when you watched that. He had, like you said, a lot of health issues. And the way he dealt with that was unbelievable. I interviewed him in 2020 with Sharon for Good Morning Britain. Let's take a look at the clip. I'll be worried about you. So let's start with how you are.

I want to put one thing straight. It's been putting in the papers that they discovered I had Parkinson's when I had the fall. Well, I've known about the Parkinson's since 2003. I've had it all my life. And the Parkinson's I have. It's not like the Michael J. Fox one. What did you call, sir?

It's called Parking 2. It's a gene that Ozzy was born with. And of course, Ozzie couldn't get anything normal. It's very rare. You know, he had all sorts of stuff going on health-wise, Ozzy. And by his own admission, he'd taken so many drugs over the years, and he'd had so many scrapes and stuff going on. It was kind of miraculous.

He got to the age that he got to, wasn't it? I mean, he sort of defied all normal convention. He really did. He defied and he lived a life. You know, he lived. We all, you know, aspire to, you know, we worry about what could happen, what might happen and try to prevent those things from happening. I feel like he didn't.

I feel like he is the king of living in the now. You know, as we said earlier, shit happened. You know, he was diagnosed we didn't know in 2003. with his Parkinson's, which was probably created the inability to people were making fun of his speaking voice, you know? And he never really addressed that. You know, he was hard to understand people were doing impressions, which weren't always really nice, you know. But he could still get up on that stage and belt out a song like nobody else can. And he just was this quiet.

He wasn't quiet, but he was quiet. about his own personal demons and things like that. And he just, he didn't suffer. He lived, he just lived. If this is the, the head that I'm dealt, then I'm still going out. You're not stopping me. And he lived every day to his fullest.

And, you know, it's hindsight now, but if you had the right, how he would go out, this is how he would go out with that back to the beginning, right? He's going to live every day. And Sharon was the cheerleader and the, and the contractor for all this. She built this world. 100%.

And she is forced to be reckoned with. I feel that she throughout the years has been treated unfairly. And like him, is just this. What those kids are really lucky to have these parents. They really are. And I've talked to Jack on my podcast. And I respect Jack. I don't know.

or Amy that well. You know what? They're all different. Amy's always been very quiet away from the sort of public world that the other her siblings enjoyed. But they're all lovely people and they all love each other and they all love their parents and their parents love them. And if you can get to this stage of life as a parent and your kids all love you

and want to hang out with you as they do, it's not a bad place to be. I said before when I talk with Gene, if he could have scripted his final public appearance, then Ozzy, I'm absolutely certain, would have gone for a farewell concert with Black Sabbath, with his other mates from Metallica, Gunza Roses, and so on, in front of a pack crowd at the Aston Biller football ground, his old football team, back in his hometown of Birmingham,

and that he would have all his family there backstage. But that also got me, you know, Hard Rock has the scene. kind of masculine cold kind of patina, you know, but what struck me in looking, you know, I watched it online and streaming it and watching his people who consider him a hero from Axel Rose to, you know, Aerosmith, Stephen Tyler, and all these people showing up and you go, it's backstage and it's macho and it's hard rock and all these people meeting and Billy Corrigan and smashing pumpkins.

But then what I really noticed is Sharon is always there. His kids are there. The babies, he's holding the babies and looking at the babies. His daughter's getting engaged again. It's like this beautiful symphony of heart and, you know, rock and roll. You know, the last text exchange I had him. It was the night before. I just wished him all the very best.

I said, what an amazing end to an unbelievable career. I said it couldn't be better. and he just said, I'm in Birmingham now, can't wait for the last show, he said, and then that's that. That was the last thing you said, that's that. You said that's that? That's that, yeah. And I wonder whether, I wonder how ill he'd been feeling in the last few months this year,

and maybe he knew the end was coming, and he was just determined to get this final show exactly how Sharon had planned it and knew he wanted it, and he somehow managed to pull it off. And that was that. Pull it off. Performed miraculously. You listened to that song. It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

And the whole image of him smiling and laughing as he came up on his black throne and the crowd went nuts. It was just, it was magic. And no less than he deserved because he spent so long entertaining millions of people. And then there he was right there, bang. And it was fantastic.

Howie, I'm just... I really... Really appreciate you joining me. It's a very sad day for all of us who loved Ozzy, and we love Sharon, and our hearts obviously go out to her. We work with her very closely for years, and she's a fantastic, also very unique person. And she will be, I know, deeply, deeply, deeply missing him already.

They had a completely unique relationship. But I appreciate you joining me. Thank you very much. Thank you, buddy. Healthy. Well, in the end, it's some music which made Ozzie a legend, and as Howie and I just said a few weeks ago, he ended his career where it began,

reuniting the Black Sabbath for an emotional final performance in his home city. I just want to say to you on behalf of the guiding Black Sabbath to myself, your support over the earth has made all possible for us to live a lifestyle we live.

Thank you from the bottom of our hour. I love you, we love you. We love you. Well, here to reflect on that amazing last show, and his legacy of music, is Anthony Fantano from the Needled Drop. Anthony, I mean, he couldn't have scripted really a more moving or appropriate ending to Oz's career. And as it turned out to his life, than what happened that night in Birmingham? No, it's true. I mean, his passing in the way that it happened and the time frame that it happened in

and the way that he was able to sort of be able to nail that final performance before, for finally going. It made me kind of reflect on like how rare it is that an artist is able, who's on like his level of impact and fame and significance, how rare it is that they're able to kind of close the door in such an artful way in a way that like really kind of ties a bow on at all. And like one of the few names that probably comes in mind is like probably David Bowie, you know, like because obviously he passed just the announcement of his passing came

right after that Black Star record. Yeah. Which, you know, for fans, a lot of people watching him, sure knows, like one of his best, one of his darkest, one of his most intense listens. And, you know, obviously while Ozzy didn't end off on a record like that, he ended off on like a performance, you know, of, you know, incredible magnitude. And, you know, like you were saying earlier, it's just amazing that he was able to not just do that performance, but like have everyone there performing with him who literally, you know,

it's like I think we really need to come out here and say this. You know, these are not just like friends of Ozzy. They're not just like fans of Ozzie. They're not just people who like know the family. Da da da da da, da, da. Like these are people whose literal careers and exist. They wouldn't exist if this man did not make this music he made. Yeah. You know, it's like these are all people who owe their entire livelihoods to Ozzy Osbourne. We're talking about like some of the biggest music stars, multi, multi, multi, multi millionaires, game changing artists themselves in their own right. You know, it's like figures like Tom Morello and Stephen Tyler themselves are, you know, the types of dudes who, if you put them in a certain room, everyone's going to be like,

holy crap. You know, it's like, this is like one of the greatest singers, greatest, greatest guitarists, most important, like guys in all of music. I'll ever have the, the luck and pleasure of being in the same room as. But for these guys, Ozzy's there, and they're like, yeah. You know what I mean? It's like, there was a nice quote, actually, Brian May from Queen said that the Villa Park concert was a glorious way to say goodbye. The love in that place for him was gigantic.

And that was what I felt. I mean, Ozzy, a lot of rock stars have a good affinity and relationship with their fans. But Ozzy's relationship with his fans was, I felt particularly deep and warm. Hmm. No, I mean, I don't disagree, and it's something that I even myself, despite the fact that I didn't grow up, you know, during a time when Black Sabbath and Ozzy were creatively at their peak, or even, you know, at their most controversial. I still got an opportunity when I was very young to bask in that and, you know, be able to kind of like thrive in the legacy of all of that when, you know, Ozzy and Sharon were at the, peak of, you know, doing the Oz Fest festival, which for a long time was like traveling across the country, across the world, bringing like really great metal acts to a lot of young fans who just wouldn't have heard of a lot of these bands and artists otherwise, you know, just like

exposing the metal music that they set the stage for to a new generation. And during one of those concerts, it was kind of like, you know, a big deal because they had a big Black Sabbath reunion at it, you know? And like, even then, it's, again, it's kind of of crazy to see Ozzy kind of finishing things off like this deep into his 70s even at that point when I saw that performance and I saw that concert during that time it was seen as like oh this you know he's way past uh you know his prime at this point this is like a legacy thing this is a nostalgia thing to think that 20 more years down the road he was able to still kind of like draw that kind of crowd you know and still have people care about these old songs so much and perform in the state that he was in still have people hype about it and excited about it. It was just crazy. But, you know, even seeing those guys at the age they were doing that kind of comeback concert, it was still amazing. It was still mind-blowing. Like, they were killing it on stage just as much as any band that was like half their age at that fast. Yeah, a tremendous musician, tremendous singer, a brilliant frontman, amazing character,

just utterly unique. Anthony, thank you very much indeed for joining me. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. And I just think you can't end really. Without just reading out the statement from Ozzy's family, it is with more sadness and mere words can convey that we have to report that I've loved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. They said in a statement, signed by Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Amy and Louis.

He was with his family and surrounded by love. And that's exactly how he would have wanted to be in his final moments. Ozzie, you were one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life, if not the funniest. You were truly yourself, you were authentic, you were a brilliant rock star, an even better bloke. And it was an absolute pleasure to know you. Rest in peace.