I Am Ozzy by Ozzy OsbourneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
If you're any kind of rock fan, and even more so if you know the history of Black Sabbath and heavy metal in general, you will already know many of the stories in this book - the biting the head of the dove and later a bat, the formation of Black Sabbath, Ozzy's endless alcohol and drug use, the Randy Rhodas plane accident, etc.
Also this book is from 2009, and as of the writing of this review in 2025 Ozzy has passed away in July of this year so there's a big chunk of his latter life that is not included in the book. But what is included? I would say that a good 60-70% of the book details (ad nauseam) his drug and alcohol use. There's hardly a page in the entire tale that does not include references to getting drunk, smashed, pissed, high, stoned, etc. If you're looking into any insights as to how the classic songs of Black Sabbath were made, look elsewhere. Even when talking about his solo years the albums are mentioned only in passing in favor of the more lurid stories of drugs and drinking. In fact Ozzy goes into great detail about his multiple doctor's appointments for his various ailments. These are included with dialogue and all. How Ozzy managed to remember verbatim what doctors have told him stretches credulity but one can only assume co-writer Chris Ayres had a heavy hand in embellishing things.
Ozzy's influence on rock and metal is undeniable, but from reading the book (and Ozzy to his credit is very honest) it seems he was always along for the ride rather than as a true creative figure. First with Black Sabbath were he admits (what we all knew already) that he only contributed some vocal melodies leaving the music and lyrics to Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler respectably.
In fact more pages are dedicated to his reality show The Osbournes than to all of his solo albums.
But anyway, that's what you get and if you find endless tales of drugs and drinking interesting this book is for you, if you're looking for insights into the creation of a sound that spawned an entire genre, look elsewhere.
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