The Prince of darkness gave an interview to UK’s Mirror and, as predicted, he did reveal quite dramatic stuff with a very candid tone. Ozzy almost died several times, but 11 years ago, his heart stopped twice after a bike accident. The doctor told him he could have been paralyzed from neck to toe and this made him take a big decision:
‘The quad-bike accident was quite a wake-up call and the doctor said I had been very, very lucky. My ego had been running the show and for the first time I realized I wasn’t Superman. If I can’t live my life the way I’m living it now – and I don’t mean financially – then that’s it…[Switzerland].’
Switzerland has different laws than the US regarding assisted suicide, and people that want to die can go to Dignitas, the assisted dying organization.
‘If I can’t get up and go to the bathroom myself and I’ve got tubes up my ass and an enema in my throat, then I’ve said to Sharon, ‘Just turn the machine off’. If I had a stroke and was paralyzed I don’t want to be here. I’ve made a will and it’s all going to Sharon if I die before her, so ultimately it will all go to the kids.’
I just hope the kids know about this, ’cause it’s not a light subject to come up with over the dinner table. Of course Ozzy has been ‘flirting’ with death for a long time, even though he is totally sober these days.
‘Every time I did drugs, I would come close to death, it got to the point where I would worry about choking on my own vomit, so I would have to sleep face down. I do it even to this day. I overdosed all the time, deliberately on one occasion. It was 1981, and I took a whole load of Temazepam. I just remember waking up in hospital, having my stomach pumped. Alcohol is a depressant, and I was f****** nuts at the time. It was kind of an accident but deliberate, if you see what I mean. It took me about three weeks to get the knives out of my back from Sharon after that incident… she wasn’t happy. I’m very lucky to be alive and realize that. Nearly all the friends I used to get p***ed with are now dead. I am living on borrowed time.’
Indeed, it’s amazing he is still alive and may be Ozzy can thank his unusual genetic composition. A few years ago, scientists sequenced his entire genome, because he was such a survivor, and they found several gene variants that they had never seen before. So if they are not sure to have discovered the tough gene, Ozzy is probably a weird mutant.
Good genes plus wife Sharon, who, despite a separation 2 years ago, has always been there to keep him clean and get hin back on his feet, using the most violent methods if necessary:
‘Sharon was pretty p***ed off with me. She’d wait like a praying mantis to catch me out drunk or stoned. And when she did she would throw books at me, all sorts. She once broke all my platinum discs, smashing them over my head. Last year when I was in a hotel, and she found out, she gets a pot of coffee and throws it in my face. It f***ing hurt and I had a red face for days. But she’s been great, and we have seen it through. I try to be a good husband, I try to be romantic. We get our vows renewed all the time – when I was 50, and then when I turned 65, that was the last time. I buy Sharon flowers, we tell each other we love each other every single day, no matter where in the world I am, and we don’t go to bed on an argument.’
Amazing right? And the most amazing part (or not) is that Ozzy has now adopted the healthiest lifestyle you can imagine, ‘Sharon makes me moisturize every morning’ and has adopted the strict routine of 90-minute 7-days-a-week workouts. Ha, all these old rockers who have burnt their life to the extreme, are now living the healthiest lifestyles you can imagine, Mick Jagger does Pilates and yoga and Iggy Pop practices Qi-gong every day, whatever this is. This is so true that the rules applies to Black Sabbath’s current reunion world tour:
In the old days we’d go out and do drugs and all that s***, but we’re in our mid-sixties now and do a runner after the gigs.’
Ozzy has done it all and is now enjoying the good life, but he is still battling his demons:
‘For me, I have to go to my [AA] meetings. If I don’t go then I end up in S*** Street. I’m not in control.’
He also takes an anti-depressant to help him sleep, vitamin injections and watch his diet ‘I hate it when you see some guy who used to be in a band 20 years ago and now he looks like the Michelin Man. I don’t want to be that guy.’
Ozzy should write a health column somewhere…
