Lee Haywood
I was not quite a teenager when John Michael Osbourne and Black Sabbath came on the scene. They were different. I remember the songs “Paranoid” and “Ironman”. But my favorite was “War Pigs”. What can I say? I guess I’ve always been geared towards the geopolitical. Ozzy quickly became a cult hero by biting off the head of a bat and going on drug and alcohol binges that defined the 70’s. Now, I am known to speak fluent French, but I couldn’t hold a candle to the curse words that emanated from his lips. Over the years, he became so messed up that eventually his fellow band mates fired him.
So, what did he do? He started a very successful solo career and created epic songs such as “Crazy Train” and “Momma, I’m Coming Home”. Him and wife Sharon and a couple of their kids also starred in their own incredibly successful reality series. I despise reality TV, but evidently it made them a buttload. Good for them.
Throughout his showbusiness career he was accused of being anti-religious and promoting satanism when the truth is that he was always believed in God and like a lot of us, was dismayed by the death and destruction inflicted on the world by leaders who proclaim to be believers. He showed his frustration through some of the lyrics to his songs.
Ozzy and Dr. Ruth- Friday Night Videos, 1986
He suffered from Parkinson’s the last few years of his life most likely exacerbated by his constant, heavy drug use, including cocaine and in 2022, after living in Los Angeles for twenty-five years, him and Sharon announced they were relocating back to England because of the exorbitant California taxes but I believe he knew the end was coming and it was time to go home.
In his final act of generosity before his death it has been revealed that Black Sabbath’s final performance is said to have raised 190 million for charity with the farewell gig in Ozzy’s hometown of Birmingham on July 5, just two weeks before he passed away, saw all profits equally split between Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Acorns Children’s Hospice and the Cure Parkinson’s charity.
I have been involved in politics for fifteen years and, almost without exception, every politico I have come in contact with speaks and espouses the Gospel in public but become self-absorbed, backstabbing hypocrites in private. With Ozzy, what you saw was what you got. No pretense. This is how I would like to be remembered.
It is said that he had a great sense of humor. So do I, and I would have loved to have been given the opportunity to sit across a table from him. I have no doubt he resides in Heaven, and hopefully I will be able to do so one day when my name is called.
Lee Haywood is a franchise owner for Winzer USA, an MRO supply company based in Plano, TX. He services industrial and government accounts across NC. Lee and his wife Brenda reside in Summerfield, NC and have been married for 39 years. He was born on the cusp of Scorpio and Sagittarius. He is partial to the color red and his lucky number is 3.