Ozzy Osbourne

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=579022" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c467d1euxmic.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Kristi Singer</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kristi Singer"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ozzfest 2001"><U>Ozzfest 2001</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id191.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ozzfest 2002"><U>Ozzfest 2002</U></A>   |   <B>Ozzy Osbourne</b></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writing Samples"><U><B>Back to Articles</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Ozzy Osbourne</div> <div> <B>Welcome back to the land of Ozz</b></div> <div> Why we can't wait to watch Ozzy again in 'The Osbournes'</div> <bR> <div> <B>By Kristi Singer</b></div> <div> <I>Star-News Correspondent</I></div> <div> November 26, 2002</div> <bR> <div> He's 53 years old and can still sell out concerts. He's battled drugs and alcohol, bitten the head off a bat and threatened his wife's life. He shuffles around his mansion yelling "Sharon! Sharon!" among a string of expletives on an MTV reality show. And even though we sometimes can't understand his mumbling on The Osbournes, returning tonight for its second season, we just can't get enough of Ozzy.</div> <bR> <div> "I think he's a living legend," said Dominic Cifarelli, guitarist for the band Pulse Ultra, part of this year's Ozzfest, the annual rock series headlined by Ozzy. "I think he started the whole metal thing, the godfather of metal. And he's still around making amazing music. I think the only way to have longevity is to keep writing amazing music."</div> <bR> <div> For 36-year-old Rip Booker of Wilmington, Ozzy's appeal lies in his mystery, darkness and honest music.</div> <bR> <div> "For me, initially, it was the lyrical content. ... He doesn't hide anything about himself," Mr. Booker said. "How can you say it - he's the self-proclaimed prince of darkness of rock 'n' roll. That dark side draws people in - it drew me in to a certain degree. With Ozzy, there's a certain mystery."</div> <bR> <div> Mr. Booker, who has attended seven Ozzy and Black Sabbath tours in his life, was first introduced to Ozzy at 14, when he heard Iron Man on a Raleigh college radio station.</div> <bR> <div> Mr. Booker became an instant fan and bought We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll, Black Sabbath's greatest hits compilation from 1975, and anything else he could get his hands on.</div> <bR> <div> Wilmington musician Ian Henderson, 21, a student at Cape Fear Community College and singer in local band Twilight Borne Chaos, agrees Black Sabbath's dark imagery helped the band make an impact.</div> <bR> <div> "No one had ever done that before - the whole idea of a flamboyant, rock 'n' roll madman," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Mr. Henderson, a self-proclaimed "metal-head," has a vast collection of Ozzy and heavy metal memorabilia - probably enough to make it on MTV's Fanatic. His collection includes everything from tapestries, videos, CDs and vinyl to action figures and matchbox cars. Mr. Henderson has seen Ozzy and Black Sabbath five times in concert.</div> <bR> <div> For Chris Walch, owner of Charged Productions, a Wilmington portable recording business, Ozzy's dedication to rock is what has made him the icon he is today.</div> <bR> <div> "He's always been true to rock 'n' roll, he's always been a good songwriter, and he's always been himself as far as I've seen him," said Mr. Walch.</div> <bR> <div> Millions of people have seen Ozzy be his foul-mouthed, mumbling self on The Osbournes, which debuted on MTV this summer. Each of the shows 10 episodes followed Ozzy and family (wife Sharon, daughter Kelly, son Jack and a number of pets).</div> <bR> <div> Tonight's episode covers the period late last spring when the family was hitting full pop-culture phenom status, and upcoming episodes will address Sharon's bout with colon cancer. She was diagnosed shortly after Season One ended.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>