One sunny day in Beverly Hills in June 2002, Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon and their producer (my friend) Rod Aissa were strolling down Rodeo Drive when Papa Oz was mobbed by a squealing pack of 12-year-old girls fiendishly screaming his name.
Breathless, Ozzy pulled Rod into the Chanel boutique (as one does in LA) and, in a panic, laid into him: ‘What the hell is happening?! How do these girls know me?’
Rod, an executive on MTV’s ‘The Osbournes’ which had premiered that March, calmly tried to explain to the Godfather of Heavy Metal, then 53, that his new reality show was a hit.
‘It’s huge! You are number 1 in the country,’ Rod told him.
‘What show?’ Ozzy asked.
‘Your show,’ Rod repeated.
Ozzy then turned to his wife: ‘Sharon, why didn’t you tell me this show was on?’
After facing a mob of squealing teenagers on the street, Rod Aissa, an executive on MTV’s ‘The Osbournes,’ calmly tried to explain to the Godfather of Heavy Metal, then 53, that his new reality show was a hit. (Pictured: The Osbournes – Ozzy, Kelly, Jack and Sharon – in 2002)
Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, died on July 22 at the age of 76. (Pictured: The Prince of Darkness performing at his farewell show in Birmingham)
After his passing this week, the story makes me chuckle and brings a tear to my eye. I’ve long been an Ozzy fan – and while I didn’t have the privilege of knowing him personally – so many people in my life did. And they all describe him the same way: disarmingly humble, oblivious, outrageously talented and kind – a down-to-earth, working-class genius who came from nothing and appreciated everything.
Dweezil Zappa, son of another musical legend, Frank Zappa, tells me that rock stars regularly stopped by his sprawling Laurel Canyon house, but the day Ozzy visited was different.
As a child, Dweezil was fascinated by Black Sabbath after discovering their first album, ‘Paranoid,’ in his dad’s massive record collection.
‘I listened to that record and I loved the sound of his voice. The thing about his music, it only sounds right when Ozzy sings it,’ Dweezil tells me. Then one afternoon, Dweezil’s hero came to say hello.
‘My dad was friends with [Black Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi, and Ozzy tagged along,’ he says. ‘Ozzy’s favorite song of my dad’s was “Big Leg Emma.” It’s a doowop song about a girl who has put on weight. Ozzy had a great sense of humor, so of course that was his favorite Frank Zappa song.’
Being a good sport, Ozzy let Dweezil rope him into recording an unorthodox disco cover in the Zappa compound’s recording studio.
‘I had him sing a version of The BeeGees “Stayin’ Alive,” and of course, Ozzy always had a quirky sense of humor. He would sing “all aboard the disco train” instead of “crazy train.” It was such a great and unique experience to have this legend singing something that anyone else in his position would’ve thought was too goofy.’
But Dweezil says he was truly shocked when Ozzy poured himself into the silly song.
‘To watch him sing in the studio was incredible, on a technical level, he was exceptional. He was able to [vocally] double himself in a way that was so spot on.’
Vocal doubling is a singing technique where the performer is recorded twice and their voice is layered over itself to create a fuller, richer sound.
‘Freddie Mercury was the only other one who could achieve that,’ says Dweezil.
While I didn’t have the privilege of knowing him personally – so many people in my life did. And they all describe him the same way: disarmingly humble, oblivious, outrageously talented and kind – a down-to-earth, working-class genius who came from nothing and appreciated everything. (Pictured: Ozzy at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989)
As a child, Dweezil was fascinated by Black Sabbath (pictured) after discovering their first album Paranoid in his dad’s massive record collection
Indeed, music buffs and children of the 80s remember that Ozzy Osbourne – the bat-chomping, ant-sorting, acid-dropping conductor of the Crazy Train – but Ozzy had a second career, as a loveable, fumbling, mumbling reality TV dad.
That’s where my former manager at MTV, Rod Aissa, comes into the story. Rod had moved into talent development by the time I left the network in the late 90s – and he was watching an episode of MTV’s ‘Cribs’ featuring Jack and Kelly Osbourne when he had an idea.
He set up a meeting with Sharon Osbourne – and pitched her on a show to be built around her family. They agreed to speak further at the family’s LA mansion, but, as always in Osbourneworld, things didn’t quite go as planned.
‘The first time I went to the house there were no cameras there, it was just me surveying the land, trying to get a sense of this family,’ Rod tells me. ‘It was absolute madness. Ozzy would come in and out of the kitchen and go into the candy drawer, the History Channel was playing in the background.
‘There I am, sitting on the bench, trying to be polite. Kelly walked in and, out of nowhere, she and Ozzy start fighting, just screaming at each other. I’m sitting there thinking, “Where the hell am I?”
‘Hours go by and no one says anything to me, so I picked up their house phone and called my mom and said, “You’re not going believe this, they’re crazier than us!”‘
Eventually, Sharon descended the staircase and found a traumatized Rod in her kitchen, finally introducing him to her indifferent husband.
Stunned, Rod asked Ozzy, ‘Didn’t you wonder who I was?’ to which Ozzy replied, ‘I don’t f****ing care who you are!’ Rod still can’t believe it, ‘I was standing there for 2 hours!’
And thus, ‘The Osbournes’ was born, even though Ozzy took a bit of coaxing.
Rod had been watching an episode of MTV’s ‘Cribs’ featuring Jack and Kelly Osbourne when he had an idea for a reality show about the family
Indeed, music buffs and children of the 80s remember that Ozzy Osbourne (pictured with son, Jack, in 1985) – the bat-chomping, ant-sorting, acid-dropping conductor of the Crazy Train – but Ozzy had a second career, as a loveable, fumbling, mumbling reality TV dad
‘The first time I went to the house there were no cameras there, it was just me surveying the land, trying to get a sense of this family,’ Rod tells me. ‘It was absolute madness.’ (Pictured: Ozzy, Sharon and their children Aimee, Kelly and Jack in 1987)
Rod screened the pilot episode for Ozzy by himself – because, he says, everyone feared Ozzy would kill the project.
‘It was just him and me. And for 22 minutes, he didn’t laugh. Not once,’ remembers Rod. ‘I was so worried because there was no reaction, he was barely breathing, and finally he spoke: “You’re going to ruin me! I’m the f***ing prince of darkness!”‘
Of course, it was all a big joke – and Ozzy was in on it.
‘Ozzy was so humble,’ Rod says. ‘He never, ever forgot he came from Birmingham and grew up with almost nothing. If you gave him anything, even the smallest gift, he would blush and say, “I can’t take this!”‘
Rod recalls how Elton John once gave Ozzy an extravagant piece of jewelry and he pushed it back, saying, ‘I can’t take this! I can’t f***ing take this!’ Elton said, ‘You have no choice, darling, I had it made for you.’
Thinking back to that day on Rodeo Drive in 2002, Rod is still struck by Ozzy’s charming lack of vanity: ‘He got the biggest kick out of those screaming kids, who were obviously not his typical audience. He couldn’t believe they knew him.’
But everyone knew Ozzy.
He’ll be forever missed. And don’t tell anyone, but it’s pretty clear the Prince of Darkness earned a spot in heaven.
