The Quietus: In 2005 your wife Sharon allegedly arranged eggs to be thrown at IRON MAIDEN while they played at the Ozzfest, supposedly because MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson had made some comments on stage that she disliked. What’s your take on that?
Ozzy Osbourne: You know what? Unbeknown to me, every night he was going on stage slagging me off. And that wasn’t fair. If he didn’t like the fuckin’ tour, he should have said "I’m jumping [off] the fuckin’ tour," but to go on stage and fuckin’ slag me off for no reason… I’d never said a fuckin’ bad thing to him. The bass player [Steve Harris] came round at the last gig and said "I’m sorry about Bruce," and I’m like, "What the fuck are you talking about?" Nobody had told me, you know. I said, "You know what? I don’t understand what the fuck you’re talking about here."
And so, I mean, Sharon got pissed off… it was nothing to do with me. I suppose Sharon got pissed off. I’ll back my wife up to the hilt, but I didn’t know what was going down. But you know what? [MAIDEN were getting] a few fuckin’ quid out of that Ozzfest. If you’ve got something to talk to me about, be a man. Come to my face and say, "I think you’re a fuckin’ asshole." Don’t be a fuckin’ idiot. It’s so pathetically childish.
Unfortunately the rest of the band had to suffer: I suppose they were pissed off with him. But it’s wrong: I’ve never, ever, ever spoken to the guy… No, I tell a lie, one night they were about to go on stage and I didn’t know anything was going down, and I said to them, "Have a good show, guys." But I don’t like all that shit going down. If you don’t like me, just say "I don’t like you, I’m doing this festival but I think you’re a cunt." That’s all right. But to go on my stage and start slagging me off — that ain’t fair. They weren’t fucking slagging me off when they got paid every fucking night.
The Quietus: It was disappointing to see the two biggest British metal bands in disagreement.
Ozzy Osbourne: To this day I don’t understand what the fuckin’ beef was. I just don’t get it. To go on the Ozzfest and slag [people] off, that’s crazy. I really think he needs a fuckin’ psychiatrist if he does that, he’s fucking nuts. It’s an irresponsible fuckin’ thing to do. Sharon must have got pissed off with this cunt, you know.
The Quietus: You recently embarked on a court case between you and your BLACK SABBATH bandmate Tony Iommi over rights to the SABBATH name. Is that resolved now?
Ozzy Osbourne: Yeah. It was just a thing that I had to do, because it was pointed out to me that band names like DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN are a brand name — like all kinds of things; wine, fucking beer, fucking clothes, logos — and I wanted my fair crack of the whip, so I had no other alternative but to do it.
The Quietus: Is it possible to sue someone and still be friends with them afterwards?
Ozzy Osbourne: I spoke to Tony when I came back. Business and friendship are completely different, and I love those guys — all of them.
Read the entire interview from The Quietus.
