How Ozzy Osbourne’s lug persona ‘was just an act’

An old employee said: “If Ozzy was stumbling or unclear, people assumed it was the drugs. But often he just played the fool.

“It gave him room to keep his real self private. Under everything he was very aware of what happened around him.”

Paice remembered the last time he saw Osbourne, more than two decades ago in the Swiss Resort City Zermatt. With drinks for flowing, Osbourne suggested a mega tour with black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, each with 20 minutes of sets for astronomical wage.

The idea never flourished, but Paice said the conversation showed the mix of humor and vision of Osbourne.

The image of the singer was later cemented by reality television, when The Osbournes From broadcast in the early 2000s and presented him a bumbling father who is struggling with domestic chaos.

But even then, good friends attached, he stood much more intentionally than the cameras suggested.

While the tribute flowed in after his death, the emphasis has shifted from the cartoon -like figure of public imagination to the man behind the mask.

One family friend summarized it by saying: “Ozzy was not only the wild man of Rots. He was intelligent, complex and quet.” The act prevented people from seeing the depth of his struggles – and also the depth of his sparkle. “