The wizard of Oz

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This article was published 05/06/2003 (8154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IN Ashley MacIsaac’s new autobiography, the Cape Breton fiddler surmises he may be the only crack addict to have ever met the Queen of England.

Rapper Eminem, once regarded as a gay- and woman-hating misanthrope, received a standing ovation from the mushy Hollywood establishment at this year’s Academy Awards.

Both occurrences are remarkable examples of what’s possible when fame and talent combine to sanitize deviant or controversial celebrity images.

But the finest about-face of them all belongs to Ozzy Osbourne, the undisputed king of heavy metal.

He used to be regarded as a pseudo-Satanist drug fiend with a propensity for chewing the noggins off creatures that fly.

But thanks to the power of television, he’s now a kindly family man whose physical and mental deterioration merely make the pitiable, old codger more lovable.

The Ozzy that returns to Winnipeg Arena on Sunday is not just the legendary rock vocalist legend who helped define heavy metal with Black Sabbath, pioneered pop metal as a solo artist in the ’80s and sparked a heavy rock revival with the Ozzfest tours of the ’90s.

He’s bigger than all that, now — he’s a celebrity who’s famous for being famous.

And to think it all started in a bleak little corner of the U.K. . .

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF OZZY OSBOURNE

1948

John Michael Osbourne, the future Prince of Darkness, is born to a working-class family in the industrial city of Birmingham, England.

Ozzy claims his ancestors had a history of mental illness. He’s purported to have attempted suicide several times during his teens.

1967

Young Ozzy forms the Polka Tulk Blues Company with bassist Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. They change their name to Earth, tour Germany extensively and then become Black Sabbath.

1970

Sabbath puts out a brilliant self-titled debut album that lays the groundwork for decades of heavy metal. Through Butler, Ozzy gets interested in the occult — but only in a cartoonish, Saturday-afternoon creature-feature kind of way.

1971

Paranoid, the titular single from album No. 2, finds Ozzy questioning his sanity, foreshadowing the weirdness that will follow. The song becomes an instant rock ‘n’ roll classic and eventually helps Black Sabbath sell four million records.

The band’s next three albums — Master Of Reality, Vol. 4 and Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath — also go platinum and establish Sabbath as the world’s greatest metal band.

1973

Ozzy sits through eight showings of The Exorcist when the classic horror movie is released. But his interest in fantasy consumes his life. He begins to drink excessively and ingest way too many drugs.

1975-1978

Ozzy claims to have taken LSD every day during a two-year period around this time. His departure from reality manifests itself in Black Sabbath’s mid-1970s albums, which sell poorly compared to the first five.

1979

By this point, Ozzy is seriously messed up. Butler, Iommi and Ward fire their unpredictable old mate and replace him, first with Ronnie James Dio and later Ian Gillan.

Black Sabbath will never be the same.

1980-81

Ozzy puts out his first solo album, Blizzard Of Ozz, followed by Diary Of A Madman. He then proceeds to back up that reputation by chomping on a live dove and ripping its head off at a meeting with a bunch of suits from his record label, Columbia, in Los Angeles.

A few months later in Des Moines, Iowa, somebody tosses a bat on stage during an Ozzy show. Believing the critter to be a rubber toy, Ozzy bites the head off the mammal — and winds up getting a series of painful rabies shots.

1982

On tour in Texas, an intoxicated Ozzy urinates on The Alamo and gets himself banned from San Antonio for 10 years.

Then in Florida, his farcical life turns to tragedy: An Ozzy tour plane carrying guitarist Randy Rhoads and other members of the Osbourne entourage tries to buzz Ozzy’s tour bus and winds up crashing, killing everyone on board the plane.

In the aftermath, Ozzy takes his first step toward regaining control over his life by marrying his manager, Sharon Arden.

1985-86

Ozzy reunites with Iommi, Ward and Butler for a one-off Black Sabbath performance at Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. He also gets sued by parents who claimed Ozzy’s Suicide Solution, a song from Blizzard Of Ozz, convinced their son to kill himself.

The next year, Ozzy checks in to the Betty Ford rehab clinic in an effort to wean himself off booze and drugs. A confused but sober Ozzy soon shows up in the Penelope Spheeris metal documentary, Decline Of Western Civilization Part II.

The scene, which finds Ozzy frying up eggs with Sharon in the background, proves early on that the drug-addled musician’s domestic life offers plenty of comic potential.

1990-92

After two more sets of parents unsuccessfully sue Ozzy, the Catholic Church takes aim in the form of a speech delivered by New York City’s John Cardinal O’Connor.

Ozzy responds by threatening to retire for good. He launches the No More Tours tour, which ends up in another one-off Black Sabbath reunion gig.

1995-96

Like The Who before him, Ozzy finds himself restless in retirement and releases a new album, Ozzmosis. It sells three million copies and leads to a tour that draws 7,700 fans to Winnipeg Arena.

The overwhelming response — especially from a new, younger generation of heavy rock fans — prompts Ozzy to launch the all-metal Ozzfest tour, which soon becomes one of the highest-grossing summer concert tours in North America.

1997-98

As Ozzfest continues to break the box office, Ozzy, Butler and Iommi reform Black Sabbath without Ward and headline the summer tour. Drummer finally rejoins his old mates for two performances in Birmingham, resulting in a live album, Reunion.

The live version of Iron Man wins a Grammy, 28 years after it was first recorded.

2001

Ozzy agrees to two unconventional business propositions — a horror video game and a TV series based on his life. The first project is a miserable failure.

2002

The same week that Ozzy returns to Winnipeg Arena on the Down To Earth tour, The Osbournes makes its debut on MTV.

The reality TV show follows the antics of Ozzy, Sharon and their kids Jack and Kelly (oldest daughter Aimee refuses to take part in the media circus) as they adjust to life in a new home in Beverly Hills.

Along with the fictional Sopranos on HBO, The Osbournes change the nature of prime-time TV with the liberal use of bleeped-out profanity (uncensored in Canada) and an alternative version of family values.

By the end of the year, all of the Osbournes are celebrities: Sharon’s cancer becomes fodder for People magazine, Kelly has a recording career of her own and teenaged Jack follows daddy’s footsteps into a substance-abuse program.

Even more impressive is the gentrification of Ozzy’s image, as the former Prince of Darkness appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly — in a suit! — and gets an invite to The White House.

2003

Ozzy heads back on tour with former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted in his band. The show, which also features Canadian rock bands Voivod and Finger Eleven, hits Winnipeg Arena on Sunday. Tickets are still available for $65.80 at Select-A-Seat, 780-7328.

Additional sources: Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, www.ozzy.com and Rock: The Rough Guide.