Ozzy Osbourne recently sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone. Here's what he had to say:
You and Sharon are still together after 35 years, despite some bumps in the road, including a well-publicized affair. What's your secret?
"Don't get caught with your mistress [laughs]."
OK …
"It's a rock & roll thing – you rock and you roll. You take the good with the bad. When I was a crazy fucker, I'm lucky she didn't walk out. Now I'm coming on five years clean and sober, and I've realized what a fucking 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 shit. I upset my wife and I upset my family and I made a lot of shock and shame. I love my wife, and it made me realize what a fucking idiot I've been."
What is it that has kept you two together then?
"I suppose it's fair to say we love each other. I love her, and she loves me. She was brought up in a music industry, so she's not like a schoolteacher who married a rock star. But that's a very good question. There's no other woman I really want to spend the rest of my life with. You make a mistake and you learn by it. She's made a few mistakes, and so have I. You know when you hear these people go, "Oh, we've been married 35 years and we've never had a row." I go, "You must have been living in a different fucking country." Sometimes, I've looked at my wife and I've just been angry as fuck, and vice versa. Other times, I go, "Fuck, I love you.""
Is forgiveness the key then?
"That's a good chunk of it. But then again, when you cross the fucking hurdles I have a few times, it's like, "What the fuck's all this mean?" I don't know the answer. In California, it's like a fashion style: you get married one weekend and get divorced the next. I've been married twice in my life. But I don't understand people that have been married fucking eight times or whatever. If this marriage ended, I'd go, "There's something telling me I shouldn't be married.""
How do you keep your ego in check?
"I married a good woman. I was at a movie theater with my wife one night, and I wasn't in a particularly good mood. This kid comes up to me [to talk] and I said, "Listen, I'm not in a good place." And they kept going. And I went, "Look, fuck off." And my wife went, "Don't you ever say that. They're the reason we're here." So I said, "I'm sorry." But it's not every fucking minute I'm feeling like Santa Claus."
What do you understand now about drugs and alcohol that you didn't when you started?
"When you don't like yourself for getting stoned, that's when you've got a real problem. I'm not one of those guys who gets sober and says, "No, you shouldn't drink." If I could have a drink of booze right now and have a great time, I wouldn't be on the phone with you – I'd be in the fucking bar. But it bit me in the ass big-time."
Is it willpower then?
"No, it's acceptance. I was saying to Sharon the other day, "Every one of my bad drinking partners are all dead. No one's come back and said, 'Hi, Oz, it's cooler on this side. Come and join us.'" I want to be around for everyone. But more than that, I didn't love the way I felt after I got stoned or drunk or both."
What made you realize that?
"When I started waking up covered in my own urine in a fucking gutter."
How do you relax now?
"Masturbate [laughs]. No, I have a room in my house where I paint. I'm just mixing colors. I'm not an artist by any sort, but I do designs and patterns and listen to Eighties music or watch a bit of TV. I'm obsessed with Game of Thrones, like 90 percent of the world is."
What has been the most indulgent purchase you've ever made?
"I suppose a diamond ring for my wife that cost $100,000. But then there's buying a house. My wife's a terminal house buyer. We've had so many great houses and moved on."
What is it about the U.S. that made you want to move here?
"I wouldn't have survived as long as I have in England. America is a music capital for me. You could do well in Germany but to last 49 years in another country, I don't know. I'm lucky."
Where does your drive come from?
"It's what I live for. If it wasn't for music, I'd be probably dead. I had a very poor upbringing. We never went on holiday. We never had a car. We had a very tiny house. And the achievement of that is remarkable. I've just had a blessed life."
Read the full interview at Rolling Stone.
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