Ozzy Trivia Volume IV: Actions and Arrests

Ozzy Trivia Volume IV Actions and Arrests (and Attributes) by Roxanne McDonald

I have a saying. ‘Never judge a book by its cover’. I say that because I don’t even know who Ozzy is. I wake up a new person every day. But if you’ve got a fantasy of Ozzy, who am I to say? I mean, if you think I sleep upside-down in the rafters and fly around at night and bite people’s throats out, then that’s your thing. But I can tell you now, all I ever wanted was for people to come to my concerts and have a good time. I don’t want anyone to harm themselves in any way, shape or form-and my intentions are good whether people want to believe it or not. ~Ozzy

So involved is Ozzy’s trivia that I had to split the entries, which include with this one– Ozzy Trivia Volume IV Actions and Arrests–the following:

Ozzy Trivia Part I Accolades/Awards/Achievements

Ozzy Trivia Part II Rumors and Rumblings…

Ozzy Trivia Part III Appearances, Associations, and Inclinations

Actions/Arrests

I can honestly say, all the bad things that ever happened to me were directly, directly attributed to drugs and alcohol. ~ Ozzy

In his early years, Ozzy set fire to barns in cornfields.

On a dare by Tommy Lee, Ozzy snorted ants through a straw.

The fifteen-year-old Ozzy did his singing debut at the Birmingham Firehouse. Only three people showed up to hear him.

1982 [January 20] – Bites head off what he presumes is a rubber bat. You know the rest.

Driving through a fence in his yard, Ozzy sank the XJ12 he used only for “special occasions.”

Crashing his ATV quad bike, Ozzy incurred a broken collarbone, six cracked ribs, and a busted neck vertebra.

It wasn’t as if I had a list, I didn’t have a resumé saying “Tuesday - have a pint, strangle the wife, Wednesday - get bail.” ~ Ozzy

1989 [September] - After doing a drunken attempt at strangling wife Sharon, Ozzy was arrested. When awoke the next day, he didn’t know why he was in jail. For the nest year, he would undergo drug rehab, and 13 months after the incident would be re-united with Sharon to live happily ever after.

Once set of a Niagra Falls Hilton fire alarm—out of boredom—by holding lit matches under the sprinkler and watching the guests scurry.

Once in Hamburg, painted his face purple, not realizing the ink was indelible. He tells how he had to walk around Hamburg for three days with “a purple head!”

Once while on tour in Texas, and already loaded at 11am, he urinated by the Alamo…and was arrested.

Once urinated on the Hitler shrine in Berlin.

Once intentionally urinated out the window—on fans waiting in line for a concert.

Once tried the Tequila drunk, ended up under a hotel restaurant table, and was awakened by the beating of a broom wielded by the cleaning person…who mistook him for a homeless person.

Once, while recovering at the Betty Ford Clinic, had a roommate who was a mortician, who was depressed, and who cried relentlessly.

2005 – Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath. While playing, he determined the crowd was not “receptive enough,” and mooned them.

Attributes (Early and Other)

I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t make it offstage quick enough to get whatever variety of shit I was tipping down me. I thought to myself: There are people working in gas stations, and all these menial jobs, to put money aside to see the Ozzfest, and I’m more interested in going back to the hotel, and doing a bag of white powder, or whatever shit it is I’m on. ~ Ozzy

As a kid, was consistently told in school he was “dumb”. The harassing experience of learning sent him into isolation with his music. It was not until he was an adult that he learned he was dyslexic.

As a kid, became the singer of a local band called Rare Breed.

As a fourteen-year-old singer, fronted for the Black Panthers.

As front man with Sabbath, played their first gig at The Mermaid, a local pub in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.

1977 – lost his father to death, and subsequently had to be hospitalized and medicated for depression.

1979- Fired from Sabbath for “unreliability” due to drug/alcohol problem. Replaced by Ronnie James Dio (former Rainbow frontman).

Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, getting divorced from first wife, Thelma, and going into depression, Ozzy once again becomes reclusive—spending weeks at a time alone in his hotel room.

Once at a dance, he was stabbed in the gut with a screwdriver.

1986 - Had a vasectomy.

2005 [May] – While accounting for tremors/shudders (and a grand mal seizure) as fallout of his alcoholism and drug addiction, is informed that he has Parkinsonian Syndrome, an offshoot or mirror disease to Parkinson’s Syndrome—which will require lifelong daily meds.

More meds—Prozac—are needed to address the chemical imbalance.

New symptoms are reported related to Ozzy’s mild hearing loss.

Said earlier in his career that when he died, he wanted his tombstone to yield a statue of him in the Black Sabbath Vol. 4 position, arms outstretched, hands making the signs of peace [NOT bull or devil horns].

n.b. Information culled from such comprehensive sites as IMDB, MediaWiki, and ICS Ozzy Osbourne Archive/Database

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