Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's 38-Year Marriage Is Being Turned Into a Film
It's been over 38 years since The Talk co-host Sharon Osbourne and her husband, Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, walked down the aisle and said "I do."
Over that time, the two have experienced many ups and downs together. Their relationship goes way back to 1971. According to People, Sharon, only 18 at the time, was working as a receptionist for her father and music executive Don Arden, who, coincidentally, had just signed Black Sabbath. Meanwhile, Ozzy was married to his first wife, Thelma Riley (they would later split in 1982).
#TBT: Life is always happier with my @ozzyosbourne.
A post shared by Sharon Osbourne (@sharonosbourne) on Aug 7, 2014 at 5:01pm PDT
Though Ozzy wound up being Sharon's husband, she remembers being intimidated by the rocker during their first meeting.
"Ozzy walked into my father's office without shoes, with a water faucet dangling from his neck and sat on the floor," she told People."I was terrified."
Eight years after meeting, Ozzy was fired from Black Sabbath, reportedly because of his excessive drinking and drug use and growing friction between the band members. Around the same time, Sharon met with Ozzy again and agreed to start managing his solo career. It was then that they started dating.
Before the two knew it, they were exchanging vows in Maui, Hawaii on July 4, 1982. Not long after, they welcomed their first daughter, Aimee, in September of 1983, their second daughter, Kelly, in October of 1984, and their son, Jack, in November of 1985.
A post shared by Sharon Osbourne (@sharonosbourne) on Jul 4, 2014 at 11:56am PDT
During the '80s, Sharon recalled the pair reaching a serious low. As Sharon told The Guardian, the two would engage in frequent physical fights, fueled by alcohol for Sharon and drugs and alcohol for Ozzy. In 1989, Ozzy attempted to strangle and murder Sharon after a heavy night of drinking.
"That day when I woke up in this little single cell with human sh-- up the walls — and I thought, what the f--k have I done now? Has one of my practical jokes backfired? So I asked a police officer," he recalled to The Evening Standard. "I said: 'What am I here for?' I hadn't got a f---ing clue. It's the most horrific feeling. He read me a piece of paper, and said, 'You're charged with attempting to murder Mrs Sharon Osbourne.' I can't tell you how I felt. I just went numb."
Ozzy ended up spending three months in rehab and Sharon decided not to press charges.
The Osbourne family faced even more struggles in the early 2000s, right around the same time they started filming their own reality show called The Osbournes on MTV. In 2002, Sharon was diagnosed with colon cancer."You think nothing will ever happen to you. You're invincible," she told People. "Then after you get over the shock and panic, you realize how lucky you are to be alive."
That same year, Sharon and Ozzy's daughter Kelly was in midst of her own drug addiction battle, according to her 2009 memoir Fierce. A year later, Jack reportedly entered rehab for drug addiction, as well (Jack celebrated 16 years of sobriety in 2019, while Kelly said she was almost two years sober the same year).
A decade later, Sharon and Ozzy's relationship landed in the headlines again after the Black Sabbath singer admitted to relapsing.
In a Facebook post in 2013 though, Ozzy set the record straight and reassured everyone that their marriage was still going strong.
Despite the reassurance, the two mutually decided to split in 2016 after 33 years of marriage. Two months later, however, they were spotted in Los Angeles together and, in July of 2016, Sharon told The Talk co-hosts that she and Ozzy had officially reconciled. At the time, she told The Talk audience, "I forgive. It’s going take a long time to trust, but we’ve been together 36 years, 34 of marriage … I just can’t think of my life without him."
In September 2017, after several rehab stints, Ozzy revealed to Rolling Stone that he was five years clean and sober. He told the outlet that he felt lucky Sharon "didn't walk out" on him during their darkest times, including when news broke in 2016 that he had engaged in an affair with his hairdresser.
"I’ve realized what a f--ing idiot I was. I mean, I’m still nuts, but in control of it a bit more. … When I said, 'Don’t get caught by your missus,' I’m not proud of all that sh--," he explained to the magazine.
In recent days, the two appear to be on a much more positive path. On Mother's Day in 2017, the couple renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas. In August of 2020, it was announced that they were creating a biopic about Ozzy's career and his and Sharon's marriage. Though unlike other music biopics made in recent years, Sharon told Rolling Stone that the story being told is "not like any other story."
A post shared by Sharon Osbourne (@sharonosbourne) on May 14, 2017 at 5:05pm PDT
Reflecting on the upcoming project, Ozzy said, “she’s my other half. She grew up a lot with me, and I grew up a lot with her."
If you or someone you know is battling addiction, call the 24/7 The National Drug Helpline at 1-888-633-3239 to receive information about treatment and recovery.
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