Ozzy Osbourne Documentary shows his vulnerable side
Jack Osbourne is well aware of the clichèd preconceptions that people have about his father, Ozzy Osbourne. As he tells Rolling Stone, “Ozzy Osbourne is this brash, weird, MTV heavy-metal stereotype.”
However, with God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, a documentary about his father that he c0-produced, the younger Osbourne believes he is eradicating that myth. In creating the film, which is released on DVD tomorrow, he found himself laying out a very vulnerable portrait of his dad – one that was uncomfortable for him as a son. “We didn’t want to give away everything…I had to put a producer hat on and [also a] son hat. At times, it would get difficult,” he admits.
One such glimpse of the godfather of metal’s softer side is this exclusive clip in which Ozzy talks about Randy Rhoads, his band’s late, great guitarist. Rhoads died in an airplane accident in 1982 and, almost 30 years later, Osbourne says the loss is still very difficult for his father. “My dad takes it really personally. He’s still really torn up by Randy’s death,” he says. “It’s no one’s fault, but I think my dad feels a bit of responsibility for the accident. He lost a best friend, his partner, and it’s nothing he’s been able to get over.”
Both elder and junior Osbourne agreed that the toughest material to mine was Ozzy’s role as a parent. “We start getting into the not-so-pretty stuff about my dad and my brothers and sisters talk about him as a father. When he was using, he wasn’t really a good guy. I think that was kind of tough for him to swallow,” says Osbourne.
Still, both parties are very happy with the documentary, and Jack feel that it stands up for both longtime fans and newbies to the Prince of Darkness. “It’s a film that anyone can watch and enjoy,” he says. “I think when you cut away and get down to the meat and bones of this, it’s a story about a working-class man trying to figure out who he is. Don’t be scared.”
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