Ozzy Osbourne once admitted his beloved wife Sharon was ‘keeping him alive’.
The Black Sabbath frontman died aged 76, surrounded by his family on Tuesday morning.
In the wake of his death, a resurfaced interview with Australian music guru Billy Pinnell showed the legendary rocker speaking candidly about Sharon’s unwavering dedication to him.
When Billy asked the superstar what impact Sharon had on his career, Ozzy admitted that without his wife by his side, he would not be alive.
‘They say behind every great man, there’s a great woman and I think that’s true in this case – in my wife,’ he said during the sit-down at a takeaway shop in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood.
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‘Truly, without my wife at my side, I wouldn’t be here – without any doubt.’
When Billy pressed the frontman to elaborate on his comment, Ozzy did not shy away from the subject.
‘I wouldn’t be alive, I wouldn’t be singing,’ he said. ‘She saved my life every day.’
Ozzy also expressed regret at the toll his much-publicised drug and alcohol abuse had on Sharon, including abuse he meted out to her.
In 1989, he attempted to kill Sharon while high on drugs, and seven years before that, he urinated on the treasured Alamo Cenotaph in Texas, an act that saw him banned from San Antonio for a decade.
He was also injured in a quad bike crash at his UK home in 2003, an episode that had a serious impact on his fragile health.
Yet there was also redemption for the troubled singer, who relaunched himself as a reality TV star in The Osbournes in the early 2000s, after getting clean from drink and drugs with the help of Sharon.
‘The crap that I put her through when I was abusing myself – I’d disappear for weeks on end and I’d smack her in the eye and do all these horrible things, and she stuck by me and she got me through all kinds of stuff,’ Ozzy said.
‘She’s still there – we’ve got three beautiful children – and I’m coming through it, you know?’
Ozzy even offered some advice for other couples, adding: ‘The thing about a relationship is, it’s a rocky road – every one has its ups and downs.
‘Don’t give up because we’re now getting closer after all we’ve been through. We’re really happy now. I love her.’
Ozzy and Sharon, the rocker’s second wife, were married on 4 July, 1982 in Hawaii, and the couple shared three children – Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and Jack, 39.
He also shared three children with first wife Thelma Riley – adopted son Elliot Kingsley, 59, Jessica, 53, and Louis, 50.
The resurfaced clip comes as Ozzy’s family revealed the news of his passing on Wednesday, just weeks after the Black Sabbath frontman performed from a throne on stage at Villa Park in Birmingham.
In a statement, his family said: ‘It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.’
‘He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family’s privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.’
The rocker was able to bid an emotional farewell to his fans on stage this month as he reunited with his original Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the first time since 2005.
‘You’ve no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart,’ Osbourne told the crowd in his final speech.
The music legend vowed, however, that it would be his final ever performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson’s in 2020.
