{"id":110350,"date":"2025-08-01T13:25:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110350\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:25:23","slug":"ozzy-osbourne-interview-im-always-looking-for-the-rainbow-i-cant-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110350\/","title":{"rendered":"Ozzy Osbourne interview: “I’m always looking for the rainbow I can’t find”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2008, Slash presented Ozzy Osbourne with the Living Legend award at the Classic Rock <\/a>Roll Of Honour at London\u2019s Park Lane Hotel. After the star-studded event \u2013 attendees included Jeff Beck, Ronnie Wood, David Coverdale, Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Peter Green and Wayne Kramer \u2013 Ozzy sat down with Classic Rock to reflect on his journey. <\/p>\n

How was this evening for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been really good. I flew in from Los Angeles yesterday and I\u2019m going back tomorrow. So it\u2019s been a bit of a whirlwind. I\u2019ve been sitting with Sharon at our table and people dropped by to say hello. I don\u2019t drink anymore, so at least I\u2019ll fucking remember what happened in the morning. I started to worry a bit when it ran late because I thought everybody would be fucking mindless [by the actual ceremony].<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Who have you enjoyed catching up with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeff Beck<\/a> and Ronnie Wood. And Jack Bruce, of course. I was with Slash in California last week and he didn\u2019t say he was gonna be here. That was odd.<\/p>\n

On a night like this, do you think about your late guitarist Randy Rhoads?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. Oh yeah. Seeing him up there on the screen\u2026 [his words trail off\u2026]<\/p>\n

Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Some would say that had you not met Randy when you did, we might not even be having this conversation? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. That\u2019s true. It\u2019s very sad.<\/p>\n

What went through your mind up at the podium?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought I had everything planned but when I got there I couldn\u2019t think of a fucking thing to say. I was incredibly nervous. I don\u2019t really get off on things like this, to be perfectly honest.<\/p>\n

Even so, it must be pleasing for you to be hailed as a Living Legend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fucking great. Watching the collage of photographs on the screen\u2026 when I think of where I came from. My whole life was up there. I\u2019ve been doing this for a lot of years. I had no idea I was going to last as long as I have. And hopefully there\u2019s more left in me. The fact that I\u2019m alive is a fucking miracle. Anything that comes out now is extra because, by all accounts, I should\u2019ve been dead 30 years ago, the lifestyle I\u2019ve led. But I don\u2019t drink. I don\u2019t smoke. I don\u2019t do dope. I\u2019m quite fucking boring these days.<\/p>\n

\"Ozzy<\/p>\n

Ozzy and Slash drinking tea at the Classic Rock Awards’ Tea Party on November 3, 2008 in London (Image credit: Dave M. Benett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Do you really think you\u2019re boring, or just in comparison to how you used to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I first discovered alcohol and drugs and all the wild life rock and roll will give you, it was great fun, but then it became very old very quick for me. One thing I\u2019ve always maintained, I\u2019ve always tried to be sober before I go on stage. There\u2019s been occasions when I haven\u2019t been. Not very many. I used to wait until after the show to get fucked up. I always had respect for the audience\u2026 saying that, sometimes I\u2019d be hung over from the night before and been fucking crap.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

This interview originally appeared in Classic Rock 127 (January 2009)<\/strong> (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

One time, when asked about your success, you said: \u201cI\u2019m confused by it all. Am I really so special? I don\u2019t understand.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s kind of right. I don\u2019t think I truly deserve it because I\u2019ve had a lot of help from a lot of people along the way. It wasn\u2019t my idea. I was just a simple guy from Aston, Birmingham.<\/p>\n

What is it like to be Ozzy Osbourne?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m always looking for the rainbow I can\u2019t find. Instead of just being me, I\u2019ve got one of these alcoholic brains that thinks of the dark side of life. I can\u2019t go: \u201cI\u2019m going to be 60 in December, I\u2019ve made a lot of people happy.\u201d I always think of the few people I haven\u2019t made happy.<\/p>\n

Like Sharon will say to me: \u201cWhat the fuck\u2019s wrong with you?\u201d We\u2019d go to a function or something and there\u2019d be some guy in the corner that I don\u2019t know and he\u2019s got a look on his face, and I think: \u201cHe hates me.\u201d I\u2019ll spend the evening trying to get the guy to like me. And Sharon will go to me: \u201cWhat the fuck\u2019s wrong with you?\u201d And I\u2019ll go: \u201cThat guy, he doesn\u2019t like me.\u201d And she\u2019ll go: \u201cBut the rest of them love you.\u201d But that\u2019s the way I am.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like when I go and do a show. If I\u2019m on stage and I can see one guy standing there looking bored, I\u2019ll do the show for him. I\u2019ll tell you a funny story, actually. It\u2019s a true, true story. It\u2019s typical of Ozzy Osbourne. I\u2019m like the fool on the hill sometimes. I go on stage. I\u2019m doing a show. The fucking place is packed. There\u2019s thousands of them in there. There\u2019s a bunch of people on stage left, about six or eight of them in a block. They\u2019re just standing there [crosses arms and adopts bored pose]. I thought, fuck me, I\u2019ve got to turn them on. I\u2019m doing the show, facing them, fucking screaming, and there\u2019s sweat pumping out of my veins. My neck is swollen.<\/p>\n

In the end I lose it and turn to my assistant, Tony. I say: \u201cGet these kids out of here. I\u2019m going to die otherwise. Give them their money back.\u201d So he goes: \u201cThey\u2019re deaf.\u201d I go: \u201cWhat? Oh my god.\u201d So then I\u2019m trying to do instant fucking sign language. [Ozzy starts doing mock sign language and speaking very deliberately] I\u2026 am\u2026 sorry! There\u2019s like 90,000 people and there\u2019s eight fucking deaf people and I\u2019m thinking they don\u2019t like the show [laughs]. That\u2019s typical Ozzy.<\/p>\n

Do you sense a level of expectation when people meet you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been a clown. I like to make people happy. I like to make people have fun in life. When we did the TV thing, my son said to me: \u201cDad, would you prefer people to laugh at you or with you?\u201d I said: \u201cYou know what, Jack, as long as they\u2019re laughing, I don\u2019t give a fuck if they\u2019re laughing at me or with me, as long as they\u2019re laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

OZZY OSBOURNE – “Crazy Train” (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"OZZY<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

How do you respond to those who feel you\u2019ve sold out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sold out to what? Sold out and being typecast are very close. I didn\u2019t go to any college or school or university to become Ozzy. I just was. A lot of my craziness, a lot of my image, was down to alcohol and drugs. I could have carried on with the alcohol and drugs, but I have a responsibility to my family. I didn\u2019t want to die prematurely. So, what have I got to do, drink myself into oblivion? I don\u2019t know what to say to that.<\/p>\n

On one hand I know what you\u2019re saying and on another hand, I\u2019m confused. What do people want me to do? Do they want me to die doing what I do? I don\u2019t do drugs anymore. I don\u2019t do alcohol or smoke dope anymore. I don\u2019t know what to say to you, really. If they think I\u2019ve sold out, then what more can I say that will make them think that I\u2019ve not sold out.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s always bothered me. I don\u2019t go: \u201cOh, I can\u2019t do this TV shit. I can\u2019t do these adverts\u201d\u2026 it\u2019s fucking work. It\u2019s what I do. I get what they\u2019re saying. Believe me, it crosses my mind a lot. Can I do that and not expect to get any flak from my following? I constantly say that to Sharon and it is a good point.<\/p>\n

Is there anything you wouldn\u2019t do in fear of a backlash?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I question it all the fucking time. I don\u2019t really care too much for TV, but there again if it comes along, what do I do, say no? There was a time when it was unfashionable to play Top Of The Pops because people would think you\u2019ve sold out. When Black Sabbath<\/a> did Top Of The Pops, we just did it because it was Top Of The Pops. But then we got flak because people like Ten Years After<\/a> and other bands at the time refused to do it.<\/p>\n

Do you feel any responsibility towards Sabbath fans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every now and then I\u2019ll pick up a magazine and read what\u2019s been written about me. I read this one thing saying, Tony [Iommi] should get over this Ozzy thing. He\u2019s not going to do a Sabbath album. But let me tell you the reason I haven\u2019t done a Sabbath album. I was a different guy then.<\/p>\n

The name Black Sabbath is a very special name, for me anyway, because we weren\u2019t like some band put together by some mogul, like the fucking Spice Girls or something. We were four guys from Aston, Birmingham. I was at school with Tony, we got a band going and it was a big success from record one. It\u2019s very difficult to go back and recapture what you once had. It\u2019s like we\u2019ve all grown. One thing I\u2019m really glad about is we\u2019re all mates again. That means more to me than anything.<\/p>\n

How do you think your status as a celebrity has affected your musical career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve got to be truthful to you. The celebrity side of it. I didn\u2019t plan it and go: \u201cIf I do The Osbournes\u2026\u201d It just happened. If I had the formula for making a big thing happen, in this town I\u2019d have a line around the fucking state.<\/p>\n

With success, everybody wants to get seen with you. The paparazzi, now it\u2019s like a disease. My house, I had to have 24-hour armed surveillance. We had to shred everything because people go through the bins. It\u2019s like being a fucking prisoner. It was a hoot at the beginning. I was fucking out of my brains every minute of the show.<\/p>\n

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970) – YouTube
\n\"Black<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

How would you describe yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Very lucky. Very fortunate. Very fortunate to have fallen in love with my wife. Very fortunate to have lasted so long. Very fortunate to be alive. Very fortunate to be sober and clean today.<\/p>\n

And how would you describe yourself to someone who had never heard of Ozzy Osbourne?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A clown. A clown wants to make people happier than they already feel.<\/p>\n

Is that how you\u2019d like to be remembered, as a clown?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. A guy that tried to make people have fun with their lives.<\/p>\n

As the Prince Of Darkness, how do you feel about those unlikely moments when you find yourself doing things like having dinner with President Bush or performing at Buckingham Palace?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have dinner with President Bush. I\u2019m not like that Irish guy [he means Bono]. I went to this thing. I didn\u2019t know what the fuck it was about. I thought, \u201cFuck this\u201d. I\u2019d had about three bottles of fucking plonk, I was out of my shitter. I kept going for a piss.<\/p>\n

When I got there, it was just like pandemonium. There must have been about 3,000 cameramen. It was just when The Osbournes took off. It was only a few months after they blew the World Trade Center out of the sky. I go in this place and there\u2019s a dais on this stage. All around us is all these news channels, Fox, MSNBC, BBC and Christie Brinkley\u2019s at one table and I\u2019m like: \u201cWhat the fuck is all this about?\u201d I just thought, \u201cThis is nuts!”<\/p>\n

And I started drinking the wine. I get shit-faced. And when he [Bush] gets up on the dais, I\u2019m thinking: \u201cIs this a fucking dream or what?\u201d He goes: \u201cWe have some very distinguished guests here tonight, like Ozzy Osbeeeern [adopts Texas drawl]. My mother\u2019s a huge fan.\u201d This is fucking nuts. I\u2019m like in shock. I\u2019m thinking, \u201cTerrorists are going to blow this place up. They\u2019re going to kill the government and me with these fuckers\u201d. I never expected it be like this.<\/p>\n

Finding yourself at Buckingham Palace performing at the Queen\u2019s 50th Anniversary Concert must have felt equally bizarre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I went into the Palace for that fucking thing, there were signs saying: \u2018No foul language,\u2019 \u2018No abusive terms,\u2019 \u2018No chasing the wild animals.\u2019 I\u2019m thinking, I\u2019m sure this ain\u2019t for anybody else. \u2018Don\u2019t chase the animals.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t throw anything in the lake\u2019. . . unless you\u2019ve got a brick tied to your neck [laughs].<\/p>\n

How do you feel about turning 60 in December?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not looking forward to it. But I can\u2019t deny it. I\u2019m 60. I don\u2019t look that bad. I don\u2019t feel that bad. I\u2019ve had an incredible life. I don\u2019t know what to say about being 60. It\u2019s only another birthday. I\u2019m glad I\u2019m going to reach 60. I hope I reach 70. When I was 18-20, I\u2019d go: \u201cI\u2019m going to be dead before I\u2019m 40.\u201d That was alright until I was 39. Then I\u2019m like: \u201cHow about 50?\u201d Nobody gets out of here alive.<\/p>\n

Do you fear death?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. I ain\u2019t looking forward to it. But it\u2019s what happens.<\/p>\n

What would you like on your headstone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

See, I told you I was ill.<\/p>\n

Given everything you\u2019ve been through, do you think of yourself as a survivor? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m kind of an accidental survivor. When I used to do drink and drugs and all that, I would never sleep lying on my back. It\u2019s something I drilled into my head because so many people along the way lay on their back and choke on their vomit in the night. So automatically I would just lie on my side. Even now I can\u2019t sleep on my back. Is it because I\u2019ve survived that people think I\u2019ve sold out?<\/p>\n

No. I think it\u2019s more the fact that you\u2019ve lived at times a reckless life. People might question your flippant attitude towards death. <\/strong><\/p>\n

You have a bottle of vodka for breakfast in the morning, you ain\u2019t going to have much to care about by fucking 12. I was a chronic alcoholic. Let me tell you something, when I started drinking booze and getting loaded, it was very much fun. We had fucking joints, coke, all this shit, but there came a point in my life, and I can\u2019t really remember which point, it flipped on me. I couldn\u2019t do that anymore to myself because I didn\u2019t want to die and I was terrified of living at the end.<\/p>\n

\"Ozzy<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Kevin Nixon \/ Classic Rock magazine)<\/p>\n

Do you have any regrets?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everybody has regrets but you can\u2019t change the past, but you can try and do something about the future. I like to believe that my life has been somewhat of a path of experiences. You don\u2019t know whether you like strawberry jam until you taste it. I don\u2019t want to sound like an old fucking philosopher. If you enjoy getting fucking loaded, great. Believe me, if I could get successfully fucked up again, I wouldn\u2019t be talking to you saying that, I\u2019d be off. But it turned on me in the end.<\/p>\n

A lot of the guys ain\u2019t here because of it: John Bonham, Keith Moon. I\u2019m a meat eater. I\u2019m not a fucking guru of brown rice and Buddha. My last attempt at trying to get into Buddha: I bought a six-foot high gold Buddha for seven grand and I can\u2019t find anywhere in the house to put the fucking thing so it\u2019s rotting out in the garage now. I thought I\u2019d get spiritual, for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

Why were you trying to get spiritual?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you get older you start to think, what happens next? When I do make that final plunge, where do I go to? Heaven sounds like a fucking boring place to me. Hell\u2019s more my kind of domain because it\u2019s like the bad guy. But I ain\u2019t a bad guy. I was a very sick guy for a long time. I still am. Responsibilities? I neglected them. Whatever I wanted, I went for. Sometimes I\u2019d get it and sometimes I wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just very lucky to be able to talk to you like I\u2019m talking to you now. I do have some damage. I broke my neck on that ATV which fucked me up bad. The guy said to me when I came out of the coma, had it been a milli-fucking-metre either way, you wouldn\u2019t have been sitting here talking to me, you\u2019d have been in a wheelchair at best for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

When events like that happen, where you are clearly lucky to have survived, do you wonder, Why was I saved?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know without any question of doubt, had I been awake when Randy got on that plane, I\u2019d have been on the fucking wing with a bottle of vodka. I\u2019d have been with him. But it was my destiny not to be.<\/p>\n

Once, when asked about the incident when you killed your ex-wife\u2019s chickens, you said: \u201cEveryone likes the wild and crazy guy, but that guy\u2019s got to go to bed and lie on that pillow with his conscience.\u201d Does your conscience ever keep you awake? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure. My conscience tortures me at times. I\u2019ll re-run the day sometimes. But I\u2019m very sensitive. I think: \u201cWhy the fuck did I say that?\u201d I\u2019ll know when you leave today I\u2019ll be going: \u201cHe\u2019s going to think I\u2019m a fucking dickhead.\u201d When people read my old quotes, that was what I was feeling like at that time.<\/p>\n

The thing is, if you continue to do the same stupid thing and expect a different result, that\u2019s what craziness is. If I sit in a bar and I\u2019m not doing anything crazy, people go: \u201cWhat\u2019s up with Ozzy?\u201d Don\u2019t I have the right to do what I want to do? Sometimes my people-pleasing side gets me into something I can\u2019t get out of. I\u2019m a professional people pleaser. That\u2019s what I do. I can\u2019t play a fucking guitar.<\/p>\n

Ozzy Osbourne: ‘It’s been an incredible journey’ – YouTube
\n\"Ozzy<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

What do you consider your greatest achievement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Living.<\/p>\n

What ambitions do you have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning to live life on life\u2019s terms. I\u2019ve only got today. I\u2019ll sit here and go, fucking hell, next Christmas I\u2019ll be doing this . . . But when I\u2019m worrying about tomorrow, I ain\u2019t living today.<\/p>\n

Do you like yourself now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like myself better than I did, but I\u2019m always looking for the black cloud. Sharon would say to me: \u201cI don\u2019t understand you. The fucking sky\u2019s blue and you won\u2019t be happy until you find that little black cloud.\u201d That sums me up.<\/p>\n

Have you tried to figure out what that\u2019s about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s insecurity. At school I didn\u2019t do well. I didn\u2019t do fuck-all any good. But when I hit the stage, I did better.<\/p>\n

Do you feel insecure now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. I didn\u2019t conjure up the way I am. I didn\u2019t sit down and go, for the first so and so years of my life this is when I\u2019m going to be the crazy fucker. Then I\u2019m going to slow down. That would keep me hitting the bottle because I\u2019d worry I\u2019m getting too normal now. I can\u2019t have that. I\u2019m always questioning myself.<\/p>\n

Do you have any plans on retiring?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every year. I don\u2019t like to really look at it because then I realise how fucking old I am. I\u2019ve always said, as long as I\u2019ve got an audience and giving good service.<\/p>\n

And finally, are you happy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happier.<\/p>\n

Interview: Kevin Murphy. Additional material: Dave Ling. This interview originally appeared in Classic Rock 127 (January 2009)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2008, Slash presented Ozzy Osbourne with the Living Legend award at the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[171,975,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-110350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114953737137329698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}