I Am Ozzy – Ride with the Darkness on Speed

I don’t know what made me select this title for a review. I just didn’t want to make it too obvious like including Crazy Train or something so I did this.

I thought to myself, if I were to read another autobiography by a musician, Ozzy would be next, and sure enough, his book was an early Christmas present to me. Ozzy has a lot to say and has an enormous sense of humor, like Lemmy.

Being British at heart, he uses a lot of terms like “dough” for money and “bloke” for people, also a few others I’m not going to mention, it does get a bit rough. But I learned a lot of things about him that I never realized, like for instance, how he was kicked out of school, has dyslexia, and ADHD. The name Ozzy comes from the fact that he was like the class clown too.

I also did not know that he used to work in a slaughterhouse. Can you imagine that? I would never work in a place like that. I mean I love a good steak, but I don’t need to see how it begins now do I?

Like other rockstars of his time, he too was inspired by the Beatles and soon began to form Black Sabbath. He doesn’t really talk in too much details about the songs, but rather the hilarious mishaps and adventures that occurred on stage, recording, and on the road. I found it deeply touching about how he met his bandmates, especially Tony Iommi whom he first met in school and then saw him again years later. He does give a brief rundown of how unique Tony’s sound is and what happened to him prior. I have no doubt Tony himself will cover it in more detail in his own book which I would also like to read.

Speaking of which, Ozzy seems to know a lot of Tonys in his life so sometimes I found it hard to keep track if there was no last name to follow.

Of course, he did a shit ton of drugs, booze, and anything imaginable back in the day, oh and a lot of sex too even when married to his first wife. Those were some crazy stories. It was like he was trying to keep his family like and his crazy rockstar life both at once until things went too far.

I laughed when he had to drive a car for the first time to get Thelma to the hospital when she was in labor! But I knew that marriage wasn’t going to last.

So let’s talk about Sharon because I’m sure everyone has some strong words about her. A lot of fans don’t like her, mainly because it seems she’s preventing Ozzy from retiring today. But after reading this book, I can see what he sees in her. When they first met, he made her laugh a lot and despite all the sex and the substances she stayed because she believed he was a wonderful man when sober with her and their kids. But he became drunk he was a completely different person. She also manages everything for him in his solo career because, according to him, she’s very good at it.

This was not mentioned until years after he was fired from Black Sabbath from doing too much of the usual, then sleeping for nearly three days. Good God, I would kill to sleep for three days straight, but without anything to induce it.

It just reached a point where the amount of alcohol first, crossed the line. Getting clean isn’t easy. Ozzy, always spoke about how with booze, it wasn’t about the taste, but how it made him feel. But that didn’t stop him with the other drugs, yet.

The biggest highlight I read from his solo career was when he bit the head off a bat, and didn’t realize it was a real one. He didn’t mean to and yet the media exploded about it and he had to get several rabies shots afterwards, yikes. It seems that in his solo career he felt more free and didn’t have to cater to the others. But, I’m glad he eventually was able to make amends with his old bandmates.

He also does mention Lemmy a few times, like how much he enjoyed touring with Motorhead, Lemmy’s passion for literature where he spends entire days in the library, etc. things I’ve likely already mentioned from my review of his book.

My favourite photo in this book is where he meets the Queen, he’s all in black and she shows up with a bouquet in a vibrant red outfit. That’s one thing I’ve always loved about her, how she always wore such fun bright colors.

I’m not going to go into too much details about some of the stuff involving the drugs and health bits, some of it is pretty disturbing, but it is honest which I do like. It’s strange how he was tested for Parkinson’s so long ago before, because he actually has it now.

I also did not know he had other kids besides Jack and Kelly. It’s clear Aimee wasn’t a fan of the spotlight very much. Note to self, find that “Changes” duet with Kelly and listen to it.

Overall it’s a great book with a lot of hilarious and honest moments from the Prince of Darkness. I admire how long after he finally got clean, he found new things to enjoy and still tries to continue with music today, despite us fans pleading him that he’s already done enough given the numerous health issues he has now.

What can I say? Nothing seems to stop him. Like he said, he did so many things that could have killed him, and yet, he’s still alive. Long live Ozzy.

A great book and must-read if you’re Metalhead.