Ozzy Osbourne Reveals What Has Kept Him Going

William Lee | 12-05-2019

From his early days in Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne never expected to have a very long career, but he credits his wife and manager Sharon for keeping him successful and also keeping him alive.

Ozzy says that he original thought that success would only last a few years but once Black Sabbath took off it hasn't slowed down for him. During a Q&A for his new See You On The Other Side box set, Ozzy was asked is he ever expected to be where he is today when he first started out.

He said, "Absolutely! I knew, I thought, 'Oh, this will do!' When the first Black Sabbath album got in the charts, it was the first time I ever got success.

"I figured it would end, but we were picked up by various magazines and I thought, 'This will be good for a few years. Partying every night, women, and wine and rock'n'roll.'

"Here we are, 50 years up the road. I know that without a shadow of a doubt though, if it wasn't for my wife Sharon, I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't be alive. She pushed me when I needed it. She yelled at me when I needed it.

"At the time I didn't think I wanted to be yelled at, but in the long run, you got to get off your butt and you got to get to what you're here to do. And I believe that's what I'm here to do!"

Ozzy also looked back on his early days with Sharon, which coincided with his original departure from Black Sabbath. He said, "When we started off, I can remember, we were both broke, no credit cards, nothing. We'd have all the cash from the gig in a briefcase and we'd have to stay in these really cheap hotels.

"The briefcase with cash in it was handcuffed to my wrist because if we got ripped off, we were done. But it was fun because we had nothing to lose, and everything to gain! We'd beg, borrow, and steal."