In a new interview with Variety, Ozzy Osbourne, his wife and manager Sharon, and their son Jack spoke about Ozzy‘s decades-long battle with drug and alcohol.
Asked when was the first time he someone told him, “Ozzy, you need help”?, Ozzy said: “I think the first time I took a drink. I needed help to get the next drink. And I never went for a drink. I went to get f*cking smashed. I just checked out every day. And that becomes a way of life. In England, the thing is the pubs. I don’t know what it’s like there now, but when I was younger it was ‘We’ll meet in the pub.’ Everything was around the pub. One of the last things my father said to me before he died, he said, ‘Do something about your drinking.’ So I had a drink.
“It’s a very selfish disease,” Ozzy continued. “My kids needed me. … I had a row with Jack. I had to talk business. And I said, ‘What have you ever f*cking wanted? I’ll give you whatever you want.’ He says, ‘What about a father?’ That kicked me in the balls so hard. It knocked me sideways. I went, “Oh, my God.” I’d give whatever materialistic things they ever wanted. But the most important person wasn’t there.
“Recovery is selfish. But you know if you don’t recover, you know exactly what it’s going to do there. Kelly [Ozzy‘s daughter] said to me one day [after she got sober], ‘Nothing’s changed. I’ve gone so many years sober. What’s the problem? I might as well drink.’ I said, ‘Let me tell you something, Kelly. When I drank after some period of time, it’s the worst feeling you will ever, ever have in your life. And you know what you do? You drink more to get rid of that guilt. It’s just that and it’s over.”
After interviewer asked Sharon what it’s like to have sober Ozzy, she responded: “Very calm in the house. It’s very pleasant in the house. It’s great for our whole family. It really is.”