THE SECOND COMING OF OZZY
On September 3, 1989, Ozzy Osbourne awoke in a prison cell with an aching head and no memory of why he was there. While no stranger to waking up in strange places, the truth sickened him to his core: he was being charged with attempted murder, having tried to strangle his wife Sharon in a drink-and-drug-induced stupor. Though the couple reconciled, the writing was on the wall – the 80s were effectively dead and if Ozzy didn’t sort his shit out, he would be too.
By the time he got out of rehab and started work on his next record, Ozzy was a new man, ready to banish the spectre of the ineffectual drunk clown that many had come to view him as. As he puts it to Hammer today, “No More Tears was a resurrection – I was fitter than I’d ever been and had something to prove.”
Speaking to us 30 years on from the release of the album, it’s hard to imagine Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzy Osbourne, Prince Of Darkness and all – being on the back foot. Even with his recent Parkinson’s diagnosis, he has continued work on his 13th solo record (he speaks to
