Ozzy and His Crazy Train of Drugs

Jonathan Pass
MUS 230
March 1st, 2016

Musicians are notorious for being drug users, and one of the most notorious of them all is
Ozzy Osbourne. He has been addicted to several drugs throughout his life, including LSD,
heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and a variety of prescription medications that he would take with
booze. Ozzys addictions had many consequences and his use of drugs was very apparent in his
music.
Ozzy has been involved with drugs and alcohol the majority of his adult life. One notable
drug that Ozzy (and the members of Black Sabbath) were addicted to was cocaine. Ozzy stated
his first experience with cocaine was in 1971 after a Black Sabbath show. He claimed Leslie
West, the guitarist for the band Mountain (whom Black Sabbath had played with that evening)
introduced him to it. Ozzy said after trying it for the first time The world went a bit fuzzy after
that (Wikipedia). While Black Sabbath was recording their album Vol. 4 in 1972 they spent
$75,000 to have cocaine flown privately to them which happened to be $15,000 more than the
cost of recording the album itself. Another addiction Ozzy had was tobacco. Ozzy stated that that
was the first substance that he quit as he was a singer and didnt want it to affect his vocals. After
quitting tobacco he tried getting off of illegal drugs, however he was still addicted to prescription
drugs while quitting tobacco and illegal drugs. One of the biggest addictions Ozzy has had is
alcohol. He claims he started drinking (and smoking marijuana) when he was 14. Over the years
hes tried to quit a few times but has always returned. In the last few years he seems to have
sobered after seeing his son abstain from alcohol. Osbourne once said in an interview: Cocaine
and booze are the eggs and bacon of the addict's world, the perfect combination. And you just
can't stop." (Blabbermouth). This helps illustrate his addictions. Throughout his career, Ozzy has
also been involved with LSD and heroin.

There were quite a few consequences that came from Osbournes drug use. One of the
biggest consequences was being kicked out of Black Sabbath. This happened based almost solely
on his substance abuse problems. At the time the band was already having a hard time
motivating themselves in the studio, and it didnt help that Osbourne was hardly coming to the
studio at all. Instead he would be in the bar getting legless or doing all kinds of things (Lester).
He would often experience blackouts from drinking so much. But leaving the band may have
been good for Ozzy. It ended up being more of a release for him to pursue other musical
directions. However after leaving the band he spent the next three months locked in his hotel
room taking vast amounts of drugs and alcohol all day, every day. (Wikipedia). This was very
unhealthy, and he said that he would certainly have died if his future wife Sharon had not
offered to manage him as a solo artist. (Wikipedia). This brings me to another huge
consequence of Ozzys substance abuse: it almost cost him his marriage. After abstaining from
alcohol and all the different drugs he had done for ten years, he revealed in 2013 that he had
fallen back into his addictions for 18 months and was just 44 days sober at that point. This
caused a breaking point in his marriage. Sharon and Ozzy spent some time apart after he came
out with the news of his relapse. Sharon later said that she almost divorced him but they ended
up still staying together. Surprisingly, this wasnt even as big a deal as another incident earlier in
their marriage. Ozzy recounted a drunken incident that occurred in the 80s during an interview:
"I woke up smashed out of my brains, charged with attempted murder," he reveals. "I was like:
'Who the fuck did I try and kill?' The policeman read the charge sheet: 'Sharon Rachel
Osbourne'." (Lester). In a drunken stupor, he tried to strangle his own wife. There were many
other incidents that occurred because of Ozzys use of alcohol or drugs. One such incident was
urinating on a monument dedicated to the Alamo across from the building itself while wearing

one of Sharons dresses (she had hidden his clothes) while drunk. A police officer arrested him
and he was banned from the city of San Antonio for a decade. Another incident was recorded in
his autobiography: he was invited in 1981 to a meeting with the head of CBS Europe in
Germany. Intoxicated, the singer decided to lighten the mood by performing a striptease on the
table. He believed he had done so, kissing the record executive on the lips as he finished the
striptease. His manager Sharon later angrily informed him that what he had actually done, and
could not remember due to his intoxication, was perform a Nazi goose-step up and down the
table before dipping his testicles in and then urinating in the executive's wine. (Wikipedia).
Besides these incidents, he was also arrested multiple times for public intoxication. Another
personal frightening consequence is how much the drugs have destroyed his mind. Ozzy has
admitted that his mind is so ravaged by drink and drugs he cant even remember when his first
child was born. (Bates). He was also unable to get a driving license because of his mental
instability. As you can see, there were a large number of consequences that came from Ozzys
use of drugs and alcohol.
Ozzy has been very open about his addictions. In 1978, he said I get high, I get fucked
up, what the hell's wrong with getting fucked up? There must be something wrong with the
system if so many people have to get fucked up (Wikipedia). Ozzy claims that he didnt do any
drugs before going on stage but would usually smoke a joint afterwards. The other members of
Black Sabbath were involved with drugs and alcohol but they all agreed that Ozzy had the
unhealthiest lifestyle of them all. Ozzy commented on his first experience with cocaine, saying
that coming from Aston and falling in love with it is like having your first fuck (Wikipedia).
He has also said that he didnt believe in blackouts until he woke up in a jail cell and found out
he tried to strangle his wife. Since being sober for the most part, Ozzy has frequently commented

on his former lifestyle, wondering how he managed to survive 40 years of drug and alcohol
abuse. While in his 10 year period of soberness, Ozzy commented that he loved being sober and
he felt like he had a lot more freedom.
When Black Sabbath released Vol. 4 they wanted to name it Snowblind, which was a
reference to cocaine. However their record label wouldnt let them because of the controversy it
would cause. However, there is a track on that record named Snowblind. With lyrics like icicles
within my brain and feeling happy in my pain its fairly obvious its about cocaine. Also the
fact that they whisper cocaine in the song gives it away. This was the record that they created
while having cocaine flown in privately to them so its no surprise thats reflected in this song.
Hand of Doom was another Black Sabbath song that was about heroin addiction. The
Wizard is another song which is thought to be about the bands drug dealer.
Drugs and alcohol played a big part in Ozzy Osbournes life and in Black Sabbath. He
faced many consequences from abuse of those substances, and their use was reflected in the
bands music. Ozzy is reportedly clean for the time-being since his relapse a few years ago.

Bibliography
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