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12th out of 276 books
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I am Ozzy
by
Ozzy Osbourne,
Chris Ayres (Goodreads Author)
"They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies . . .' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the f**king things at hom...more
Hardcover, First U.S. Edition, 391 pages
Published
January 25th 2010
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Opening Line: "My father always said I would do something big one day."
I grew up in the 80’s so the Ozzy that I knew wasn’t the comical, stuttering MTV family man of today but the Prince of darkness. Black Sabbath’s scary, out of control singer who bit the head off of bats and doves and worshiped the devil. (Or so the rumours said) My brother used to play his records (yes I’m that old) during his rocker/bad boy phase (he’s now with the RCMP) and I remember being forced to ...more
I grew up in the 80’s so the Ozzy that I knew wasn’t the comical, stuttering MTV family man of today but the Prince of darkness. Black Sabbath’s scary, out of control singer who bit the head off of bats and doves and worshiped the devil. (Or so the rumours said) My brother used to play his records (yes I’m that old) during his rocker/bad boy phase (he’s now with the RCMP) and I remember being forced to ...more
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My favorite metal records of all time have been a tie between two things for the last 25 years: Ozzy-era Sabbath and early Motorhead. My suspicion is that I will never stop feeling this way... and yes, 0zzy HAS done a few solo records worth a damn, too.
The thing I learned from this book that I'd NEVER seen any details about before was the crash/ death of Randy Rhoads. Ozzy discusses it in detail, and it's one of the more surreal tragedies in rock history, if not THE strangest.
...more
The thing I learned from this book that I'd NEVER seen any details about before was the crash/ death of Randy Rhoads. Ozzy discusses it in detail, and it's one of the more surreal tragedies in rock history, if not THE strangest.
...more
So far Ozzy and his ghost writer are hilarious and keep me in stitches!
Weeeeeellllll, where to begin? I only read this book because it was about Ozzy, likewise it only received 4 stars from me because it was about Ozzy. As a rule, I don't enjoy auto-biographies. I usually find them dull and most of the authors are so busy trying to paint themselves in a saintly light that they tend to forget what actually happened. Ozzy, for the most part tells it like it is. He readily admits that most of his problems stemmed from his own actions. That said, I gleefully devoured a...more
Where to begin.
Ozzy is the Alexander the Great of substance abuse, except that he didn't die in his early 30s despite every attempt to do so.
I believe that this book is proof that there is no underlying justice in the world. How can Dio be dead and this pickled human still live?
The inherent injustice aside, my wife said that she has never heard me laugh out loud so many times while reading a book. Laugh-horror is the only 'adjective' I can think of to describe my i...more
Ozzy is the Alexander the Great of substance abuse, except that he didn't die in his early 30s despite every attempt to do so.
I believe that this book is proof that there is no underlying justice in the world. How can Dio be dead and this pickled human still live?
The inherent injustice aside, my wife said that she has never heard me laugh out loud so many times while reading a book. Laugh-horror is the only 'adjective' I can think of to describe my i...more
Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I have to admit that I never really appreciated heavy metal music & was not exactly a fan of Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne. However, as I’ve “matured”, some of my musical tastes have “immatured,” and I’ve started to like some classic Ozzy music, particularly “Crazy Train”, “Changes”, etc. With Ozzy’s celebrity re-emerging due to the MTV reality show featuring his family (and some REALLY funny TV commercials), I have become more and more interested in his life sto...more
I really don't like to read autobiographies. I hate reading about other people's lives. I've read a very small few of them in my years (I can count them all on 2 fingers) and didn't really think that much of them. Which is what amazes me about liking this one so well. I don't care for Osbourne's music, so therefore wasn't interested in his book. A friend recommended it to me and I borrowed a copy. It immediately hooked me from the dedication at the front of the book. This book is written ...more
I am a sucker for learning about famous people. In this book, Ozzy seems just as amazed and repulsed about his own life as we are. I found this way of looking at his life, along with him, somehow endearing. There is something so naive and sweet about this man. Just like any life story, there were incidents that made me laugh out loud (like the Vicar story) and occasions that brought a tear to my eye (when he didn't attend his mom's funeral because he knew it would turn into a media circus). And,...more
Well... Wow, just wow. It must have been said so many times before, but just how can this man take so many drugs over the all decades of his life? Like most biographies, Ozzy’s covers his early childhood and some of his early ‘work’ experiences. Unlike many biographies (although not that uncommon amongst musicians’) after his initial success in Black Sabbath, Ozzy’s life drops into an endless rush of booze, illegal drugs, legal drugs and substances not supposed to be consumed by human mortals.
...more
Having grown up in the 80's and being a HUGE fan of Duran Duran and the likes, I admit that Ozzy Osbourne scared the bejeezus out of me. His music scared me...his pictures scared me...don't even get me started on his videos!
It wasn't until MTV started with "The Osbournes" that I saw a completely different side of him...and I actually loved him (and his nutty family!). I was so excited to read that he had a book coming out that I snatched it up as soon as I found it...
...more
It wasn't until MTV started with "The Osbournes" that I saw a completely different side of him...and I actually loved him (and his nutty family!). I was so excited to read that he had a book coming out that I snatched it up as soon as I found it...
...more
The reviews for this book were so great I just had to check it out. And besides, while I was never a serious head-banger I did have my Ozzy 8-track back in the day... and I was darn curious to see what he has to say now that he's old enough to be someone's grandpa.
First of all, if you are at all easily-shocked, don't read this. Second of all, if you can't hand the odd (as in mentioned every other sentence) four-letter word, don't read this.
But I did. And, honestly, I wa...more
First of all, if you are at all easily-shocked, don't read this. Second of all, if you can't hand the odd (as in mentioned every other sentence) four-letter word, don't read this.
But I did. And, honestly, I wa...more
The show, "The Osbournes" was one of the shows that I credit for pulling me out of a serious depression after my father passed away from cancer. The thing that really struck me about that show was how much they genuinely loved each other. Yes, their lives were crazy, but the love they had for one another came pouring out of them. It made me smile.
Ozzy Osbourne's life was filled with crazy ups and downs; some he created and some came from left field. Ozzy worked in slaug...more
Ozzy Osbourne's life was filled with crazy ups and downs; some he created and some came from left field. Ozzy worked in slaug...more
How fitting it is to come from reading one of the worst books ever in that of Tommyland to this one, I Am Ozzy, which is the epitome of how to write a book. I Am Ozzy is hands down the best Rock Biography I have ever read. From page one to the very end of the book, there is not one wasted moment. Everything I read in I Am Ozzy is perfect. It's engaging, entertaining and more often than not, extremely funny.
I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud at some of the stories Ozzy...more
I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud at some of the stories Ozzy...more
I absolutely LOVED this book. As a teenager in the 80′s of course I knew of Ozzy Osbourne. I would never call myself a big fan of him or Black Sabbath. I listened to some of their songs but never really considered myself a “metal head”. I did watch the first season of The Osbournes when it came out on MTV. Watching Ozzy is a little bit like watching a train wreck. You know it is wrong because it is obvious that he is in a bad place, yet you simply cannot turn your head. Here is the reality...more
A life of unadulterated craziness and chaos, with a bit of luck thrown in. Ozzy himself admits that he should be dead- but at the same time is amazed and grateful that the severely dyslexic kid who was raised on lard sandwiches and chips, and who spent the vast majority of his life out of his head on alcohol and drugs, (prescription and otherwise), somehow survived. He has drained the dregs of the rock star life -at the end of the book tells a mate that the only rock star thing he hadn't done wa...more
One of the funniest books I have ever read, and one of the saddest. All the life he missed by being too out of his mind with whatever substance. The book appears to be as honest as it can be, given his booze and drug soaked brain and the passage of time, and some of it was simply too painful for me to read. Is the book accurate? Who knows. I'm not a drunk or a druggie and I have trouble accurately remembering exactly who said what or who was present in some situations from 40+ years ago so I say...more
OK, this isn't the sort of guilty reading I normally post on Goodreads (I have an odd passion for rock bios - the fate of a failed muso I suppose) but Ozzy has such a strong voice in this, and it's such a funny voice, full of great tales of struggle and excess. No wonder that as a simple wog kid in early 80s Homebush I so enjoyed listening to Black Sabbath - although by the time I discovered them Ronny James Dio was in the driver's seat, and making a damn fine fist at it actually, but after I lo...more
Who would have thought a book about addiction , poverty and music could be so funny? I have been aware of Ozzy Osbourne for many years and while not a fan of his type of music I do realize that he did have a special gift. Born in a family that was very poor, Osbourne grew up listening to the radio and through a lot of hard work found himself on the radio with his own group Black Sabbath. Sabbath, was one of the pioneering groups that performed Heavy Metal Rock and Roll. Sabbath is in The Rock ...more
The writing is truly atrocious. It reads like Ozzy dictated his life story into a tape recorder, handed it to the ghost writer, and said "Transcribe this word for word." Since Ozzy left school at 15, you can probably guess how that went.
But you don't read this book for the prose; you read it for the stories. And oh, the stories. The famous dove, bat, and Alamo tales are there, as are more behind the scenes accounts of band in-fighting and tragedy. Ozzy doesn't hold back ...more
But you don't read this book for the prose; you read it for the stories. And oh, the stories. The famous dove, bat, and Alamo tales are there, as are more behind the scenes accounts of band in-fighting and tragedy. Ozzy doesn't hold back ...more
A marvelous biography that, alongside Not Bad For A Human, is refreshingly honest and graphic. Ozzy has led a life of immense joy and misery, the misery being his self-loathing and massive addictions, his stint in prison, his creative failures with old friends, his failed marriage, and the death of guitarist/legend Randy Rhoads.
The joy is quite clear: immense success as a musician, gobs of money, and a wonderful family (that it took him awhile to appreciate).
Almost everyt...more
The joy is quite clear: immense success as a musician, gobs of money, and a wonderful family (that it took him awhile to appreciate).
Almost everyt...more
This book is fun. There are some parts that are annoying, kind of like listening to someone bs with a whole lot of obnoxious stories. The crazy part is, that I bet most of them are true. He does go on and on about the insane amount of drugs and alcohol he did and how he should be dead, blah, blah, blah. We get it, you did a lot of drugs Ozzy. That being said, anyone that loves metal, will enjoy this book. He talks about how Black Sabbath started and his solo career and Randy Rhodes. Interesting ...more
The Prince of Darkness, aka John "Ozzy" Osbourne comes clean, literally, in his autobiography released in 2009 in Britain and this year in America. Despite 40+ years of heavy (read: lethal for most) alcohol and drug abuse, gruesome incidents involving animal beheadings, and general rock 'n roll excess, Ozzy lives to tell the tale and claims 4-5 years of sobriety as of 2009. In fact, his Beverly Hills doctors tell him, he's quite healthy by 60-year old standards.
The best par...more
The best par...more
"I Am Ozzy" narra la vida del legendario ícono del metal desde sus inicios en la clase obrera en Birmingham, Inglaterra a su fama inicial con BLACK SABBATH hasta su masiva carrera en solitario y las incursiones en televisión.
Esta no es la típica autobigrafía que se salta las culpas y detalles engorrosos, Ozzy no tiene pelos en la lengua.
La sinceridad del personaje y su capacidad de mantener los pies sobre la tierra hacen adictiva esta lectura. Los detalles sobre...more
Esta no es la típica autobigrafía que se salta las culpas y detalles engorrosos, Ozzy no tiene pelos en la lengua.
La sinceridad del personaje y su capacidad de mantener los pies sobre la tierra hacen adictiva esta lectura. Los detalles sobre...more
Dude. Ozzy wrote a book. No, really, seriously. I admit that I kinda scratched my head when I heard that he had one coming out. It's taken me a while to read it because... well, I can barely understand what the dude is saying these days. I'm kind of scared of what he'll write - or if it will be coherent. The man has taken so many drugs throughout his life, I'd be surprised if he remembers his own name...
Imagine my surprise when I found his story is actually quite fascinating. A big k...more
Imagine my surprise when I found his story is actually quite fascinating. A big k...more
I really liked this book. It is a chronological history of Ozzy's life, focusing on his music. The book is filled with stories about his many odd experiences, and of course most (all?) of them had something to do with drugs or alcohol.
I like both the music of Black Sabbath and Ozzy, and it was fascinating to read about how it all started. The only part of the book that I didn't find very interesting was the last part, about the most recent years of Ozzy's life. He comes across differen...more
I like both the music of Black Sabbath and Ozzy, and it was fascinating to read about how it all started. The only part of the book that I didn't find very interesting was the last part, about the most recent years of Ozzy's life. He comes across differen...more
This is it, the life story of Ozzy, or at least as much as he remembers. He starts off from his life growing up in Aston with parents who had no money and a school system that was more than happy to riducule the "stupid" kid (years later he was diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADD). After a stint in prison and a sucession of low-paying physically demanding jobs, Ozzy decided music was his only way out of town. Tony Iommy and Bill Ward were looking for a singer, Ozzy had a PA and knew Gee...more
Ozzy is a very flawed, yet still quite lovable. That being said, he owes the animal kingdom big time. The famous dove and bat are only the tip of the iceberg of atrocities committed while wasted. He expresses genuine remorse for those he has hurt over the years, beasts included, and claims to have been clean for the past few years. I suspect "clean" is a relative term for Ozzy, as he tends to give up one drug only to replace it with another. I doubt Ozzy did any actual writing fo...more
I have been an Ozzy fan since I was a wild teenager, so I was excited to get a chance to listen to this. I had a great time listening to his life and the antics and I got to be honest, I have no clue how this man is even alive. The crazy stuff he has done and the abuse he put his body through, it's truly amazing that he's alive.
This book made me laugh and laugh and laugh. I would listen on my way to and from work and I swear people driving next to me must have thought I was nuts. A f...more
This book made me laugh and laugh and laugh. I would listen on my way to and from work and I swear people driving next to me must have thought I was nuts. A f...more
I read this book immediately after finishing "Iron Man", Tony Iommi's biography. It was a great read; Ozzy definitely hired the better writer. The early days are really insightful. Who ever knew that Ozzy worked in a slaughterhouse? I've been an Ozzy fan seems like my whole life, even to the point of being called "Ozzy" in high school, and this book explained a lot of the back-storys that I'd never heard/realized. I remember reports in the Boston Globe that Ozzy was goi...more
Can't fault the man - he's been honest. He won't make many friends amongst the animal-loving fraternity, but that aside Ozzy happily takes you on the ride of his life - or what he can remember of it. It says a lot about the man that his recollections of actualling recording such classic albums as Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Volume 4 are barely includeded, while his visit to the Alamo is recalled with great clarity - presumably newspaper reports and court records have played a part in the story te...more
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John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is the lead vocalist of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, a multi-platinum, award winning successful solo artist and the star of the reality show, The Osbournes. Considered by many to be the "Godfather of Heavy Metal," Ozzy has enjoyed a career that has now spanned four decades.
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