Were there certain things where you thought, "I'm going to let people into my life, but I'm not going to disclose this, because this is too personal"?
Well, not really. I mean, there's stuff that I forgot to put in, but not on purpose. But that will probably go in the next one, if I do another one.
Can you talk a little about the process of putting together a book like this? You've never done a book before, so how did you gather your thoughts — and, considering —
Well, you know, I mean, my life has been very interesting. The first time, you can't put, like, 10,000 pages — it's gotta be something that people can read, you know. But what I would liked to have done is — there's two things I had in mind. I was gonna write my life before Sharon, and Sharon's life before me, and now like together, like a trilogy. And then I had an idea of doing a book every 10 years. Zero in on the first 10 years of my life. Then from 10 to 20, and 20 to 30, and 30 to 40, and so on. And so I tried doing that, but then you have too much book, you know.
Well, the first part of your life read kind of likeAngela's Ashes.
Oh, that's one of my favorite films. It was very — I related to running after the coal — gettin' bits of coal. I've done things like that.
Yeah, it sounded very bleak. When you think about what you've gone through to get to where you are, it's just an amazing story.
You know what? You can take the kid out of the street, but you can't take the street out of the kid, you know. My fantasies kept me going. My daydreaming. Every now and again, I'd go, "Fuck me, I did do well." I mean, when I do a bad show, I get really pissed off. My voice goes out sometimes, and if I can't give them people the best I can give them, then I beat myself up over it, you know.
You have weathered so many controversies, addictions, and accidents that your life seems crazier than fiction — Ozzy is almost like the Paul Bunyan of rock 'n' roll.
[Laughs]
Do you see that? And do you see yourself as John Osbourne or as Ozzy?
Well, I, nobody calls me — my wife, Sharon, calls me Ozzy. I mean, I try to say that's not my name — when somebody calls me John, I don't acknowledge it. You call me John, "Okay, I'm walking." But, I mean, I am Ozzy, you know. Ozzy's my name. Elton John's not really Elton John. But, you know, I've met Elton John, you know.
So when you think of yourself and your life, you don't separate the character from —
Behind, it's like, the way I look at it, I live in a very — I mean, the reason why the TV show took off, I still have everyday issues. I'm still a father, I'm still a husband, I'm still a man, you know. So, when people — people think that I live in this Bavarian castle and sleep upside down in the fucking rafters, and fly around the gantry every night. You know? I've tried for so long to leave Ozzy on the stage and become me, but at the end of the day, I got confused myself, you know.
