The DVD explores his time with Black Sabbath the English heavy metal band and shows Ozzy in his formidable years as a young bloke in Aston, Birmingham England where his choices of occupation was either, factory worker, prison, or in the army. Born John Michael Osbourne, Ozzy expresses his lack of interest in any of those occupations in 1969 he sets out to be a musician alongside of Bill Ward, Gezzer Butler, and Tony Iommi. Sabbath the pioneers of heavy metal produced the quadruple-platinum 1970 hit Paranoid and position themselves stars in the rock world.

This documentary interviews all of his band mates and Henry Rollins, Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee, and his childhood hero Sir Paul McCartney putting their personal spin on everything Ozzy. Ozzy was a huge fan of the Beatles and was determined to become a rockstar himself. The DVD also shows his spiral down into drugs and alcoholism that plagued most of his forty years in rock’n roll. Due to his lack of self-esteem Ozzy became the band class clown. Cocaine was ever present with the band doing blow all day and all night long. Because they were completely drugged out they became ripped off by many people in the business because they were unable to manage their own affairs.

This documentary shows Ozzy’s three sisters Jean, Iris and Gillian sending Ozzy back in time to his home as he travels back to Aston and his childhood home and offers a porthole into his dysfunctional first marriage and his first two children Luis and Jessica. His kids have many memories of him not being present in their lives and being a no good drunk. Bill Ward tells the account of Ozzy losing his father Jack and how devastating that experience was for him. The band got tired of Ozzy’s antics and fired him from the band. That’s about the time Sharon stepped knowing that Ozzy had no confidence and feeling that it was the end of his dream. She knew he was a great talent but lack self-esteem again and finally got his mojo back with the hiring of great guitarist Randy Rhodes. 1980 Blizzard of Oz’s with Rhodes blew up on the charts and then the follow up Diary of a Madman established Ozzy as a star again. Rhodes helped Ozzy reinvent himself until his untimely Rhodes death in a freak helicopter crash. Sharon and Ozzy married in 1982 and started a family with Jack, Kelly, and Aimee and he still was not a great father. He was constantly drunk and loaded and notoriously bit off the head of a bird at a meeting with executives at CBS records which began to make him a larger than life character. His affair with drugs persisted and it wasn’t until his son Jack got sober that he began to want to get sober himself. The kids saw him and the effect of the drugs made his speech terrible, his walk was bad and it was destroying his family. After many failed attempts to get clean Jack was Ozzy’s inspiration and turning point and as of resultant he has been sober for 5 years.

This DVD also includes a Q&A segment with both Jack and Ozzy as Jack expresses his desire to show the world a kinder and gentile person in Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy says that he wants to be remembered just to be remembered. He also shows his new affinity for art for his own pleasure. Jack’s says that there is a difference between Ozzy and John and he wanted to show this perspective to his adoring fans. Throughout God Bless Ozzy Osbourne audiences are given an inside look into the life of this rockstar from the good times to the bad.

1) Diamonds And Rust (1977) – chosen by Joe Elliott (Def Leppard)

2) Dissident Aggressor (1977) – chosen by Steve Vai

3) Exciter (1978) – chosen by Accept

4) Beyond The Realms Of Death (1978) – chosen by Lars Ulrich (Metallica)

5) Delivering The Goods (1979) – chosen by Kerry King (Slayer)

6) The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown) (1979) – chosen by David Coverdale (Whitesnake) & Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) 

7) The Ripper (1979) – chosen by Ozzy Osbourne

Victim Of Changes (1979) – chosen by James Hetfield (Metalliica)

9) Breaking The Law (1980) – chosen by Lemmy (Motorhead)

10) Rapid Fire (1980) – chosen by Vinnie Paul (Pantera & Hell Yeah)

11) Grinder (1980) – chosen by Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society)

12) Living After Midnight (1980) – chosen by Alice Cooper & Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)

13) Screaming For Vengeance (1982) – chosen by Slash (Guns n Roses)

14) You’ve Got Another Thing Coming (1982) – chosen by Klaus Meine (Scorpions) & Corey Taylor (Slipknot)

15) The Sentinel (1984) – chosen by Chris Jericho

16) Turbo Lover (1986) – chosen by Jonathan Davis (Korn)

17) Painkiller (1990) – chosen by Joe Satriani

Confirmed North American concert engagements:

12 October    AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
14 October    Concrete Street Amphitheater, Corpus Christi, TX
15 October  The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston, TX
16 October    Allen Event Center, Dallas, TX
18 October    Ava Amphitheater, Tucson, AZ
19 October    Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA
21 October    AZ State Fair, Phoenix, AZ
22 October    San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino, CA  
23 October    Hard Rock, Las Vegas, NV
25 October    Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, CA  
27 October    Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
29 October    WaMu Theater, Seattle, WA
30 October    Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
1 November    Shaw Conference Center, Edmonton, AB
2 November    Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB
4 November    Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, UT
5 November    1STBANK Center, Denver, CO
8 November    US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
9 November    Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield, IL
10 November  The Family Arena, St. Louis, MO
12 November  The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, Chicago, IL
13 November  Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
15 November  Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
16 November  The Armory, Rochester, NY
18 November  Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
19 November  Cambria County War Memorial, Johnstown, PA
20 November  Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA
22 November  Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
23 November  Colisee Pepsi Arena, Quebec City, QC
24 November  Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
26 November  Sovereign Center Arena, Reading, PA
27 November  Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC
30 November  1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa
1 December    Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Miami
3 December    Hard Rock Biloxi Hotel & Casino, Biloxi

WITH MIND-BLOWING “AMERICAN IDOL” PERFORMANCE

 (New York, NY) – Last night guitar god Zakk Wylde rocked the nation with an unexpected appearance on the smash hit television show, “American Idol.”  Wylde performed with contestant James Durbin for a raucous rendition of Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal”.   Click here to view!  The finale duet garnered stellar raves from the judges and the masses, causing Wyld’s name to appear on Twitter’s trending topics, which helps people identify the most breaking news stories from across the globe. 

In other Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society news, THE SONG REMAINS NOT THE SAME (Entertainment One Music) will now be released on May 10^th.  Preorders of the album are available here.  The offering features unplugged versions of material from Black Label Society’s latest album, ORDER OF THE BLACK, as well as additional material recorded during the ORDER OF THE BLACK sessions.  THE SONG REMAINS NOT THE SAME was conceived, created and compiled by Zakk Wylde himself and the title is, of course, a nod to one of Wylde’s favorite bands, Led Zeppelin.  Click here for cover art.  Black Label Society will soon hit the road to headline Fuse’s Uranium Tour 2011 Presented By Mistress Juliya in North America.  Please see below for tour dates. 

About Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society

In the two decades since Ozzy Osbourne hired him away from his job at a New Jersey gas station, Zakk Wylde has established himself as a guitar icon known and revered the world over.  Wylde has won nearly every guitar award imaginable, graced countless magazine covers and is a major influence to a new battalion of rock guitarists.  Writing and recording with Osbourne led to multi-platinum success, inspiring him to create the now iconic Black Label Society in 1998.  In the decade plus since, BLS has turned the notion of what a rock band should be upside down by inspiring legions of fans (known as Berserkers) all over the world to follow the mantra: Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever (SDMF for short).  Wylde and his Berserkers have established a heavy metal institution true to the vision of uncompromising, unfiltered and unrestrained rock ‘n’ roll.  To date, Black Label Society has sold more than 3.5 million albums worldwide and continues to be a massive presence on the worldwide touring and merchandising circuits.  Black Label Society’s latest album, ORDER OF THE BLACK (Entertainment One Music), was released in August, 2010 and debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.

Uranium Tour 2011 Featuring: Black Label Society. Presented by Mistress Juliya of Fuse: 

MAY

 4         San Diego, CA                        House Of Blues

 6         Los Angeles, CA                     House Of Blues

 8         Albuquerque, NM                    Sunshine Theater

10        Dallas, TX                               House Of Blues

11        Houston, TX                            House Of Blues

13        Denver, CO                            Fillmore Theater

15        Des Moines, IA                       KAZR radio show*

17        Buffalo, NY                             Townhall Ballroom

18        Wallingford, CT                       The Dome

22        Columbus, OH                        Rock On The Range*

23        London, ON                            Cowboys

24        Detroit, MI                               St. Andrew’s Hall

26        Omaha, NE                             Sokol Auditorium+

27        Madison, WI                            Majestic Theater+

28        Minneapolis, MN                     93X radio show*

29        Pryor, OK                                Rocklahoma*

31        Chicago, IL                              House Of Blues

JUNE

 1         St. Louis, MO                          The Pageant**

 3         Atlantic City, NJ                      House Of Blues**

 4         New York, NY                         Irving Plaza**

 5         Richmond, VA                                    The National**

            *Black Label Society only

            **No All That Remains, Rev Theory

            + No All That Remains 

For more information please visit:

www.blacklabelsociety.com 

www.zakkwylde.com

The main stage will feature full sets from Ozzy, Mötley Crüe and Rob Halford (who last appeared on OZZFest in 2004 with Judas Priest), performing songs from his solo career along with material from Judas Priest and Fight. DevilDriver and Nonpoint will round out the main stage line-up. Second stage headliners and six-time OZZFest veterans Black Label Society will be joined by Drowning Pool, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Goatwhore, Skeletonwitch, Saviours and Kataklysm.

“I am excited to re-introduce the Halford band: Mike Chlasciak and Roy Z. on guitars, Mike Davis on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums to the Metal fan.” explains Rob Halford. “We are looking forward to performing a strong set and unveiling a new track.”

Metal God Records and Rob Halford are pleased to release ‘Halford – Live In Anaheim’ Original 2CD Soundtrack (6/21), ‘Halford Crucible – Remixed & Remastered’ (7/12) and ‘Halford – Live In Anaheim DVD’ (8/3) a 5.1, 23-Song, 2+hour film documenting Rob Halford’s 2002 – 2003 solo release (Crucible) and tour.

Armed with Metal’s most diverse band of the decade, Halford – Live In Anaheim is an intimate, in-your-face, solo performance featuring Halford, Fight and Judas Priest classics:  Golgotha, The Heretic, Sun, Into The Pit, Light Comes Out Of Black, Painkiller, Rapid Fire, Never Satisfied, and more.  Also featured are Bonus LIVE tracks from Halford’s Tokyo, Japan performances February 2003.

Stay in touch with Rob Halford and his Halford band members at www.RobHalford.com throughout 2010 for NEW Halford music, digital releases and Metal God Apparel, limited   concert ticket giveaways, limited meet-and-greets, tour dates, news and more!!

OZZY OSBOURNE the ‘Prince of Darkness’ returns with is latest offering, ‘Scream’. This is Ozzy’s first album in almost three years and 10th studio album overall. So what is his secret of lasting so long in the music industry? It’s quite simple, really: Write good songs. Ever since debuting with Black Sabbath way back in 1970, Ozzy and his band have written quality, complete songs that combine excellent, crunchy riffs, killer solos, and a tight rhythm section, with memorable hooks, a keen ear for melody, and (rare in this day and age) good, well-thought-out and often thought-provoking lyrics. Those folks who only know the domesticated Ozzy from his MTV show will most likely view this album as a wake-up call. The loud reassurance of tunes like “Let It Die” and “Soul Sucker” comes as a boot to the collective bottoms of younger rock bands that currently rule the airwaves. It reminds them that although he’s getting a bit long in the tooth, Ozzy can still rock and probably will until the day he dies. The aforementioned tracks as well as “Diggin Me Down” “Crucify” and “Fearless,” are all excellent rockers. Then you have the arena rocking “Let Me Hear You Scream”, proves that Ozzy can still rock with the best of them. Overall, Ozzy, Zakk Wylde, Mike Bordin and Blasko have put together an excellent full metal jacket of tracks for “Scream”. There’s no stopping the Ozzman any time soon as far as this album is concerned. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Ozzy’s older work as well as fans of Black Label Society, hard rock of the 80′s/90′s and the kiddos who think Ozzy is nothing more than a burned-out rocker. Hide the Nickelback albums, boys, the prince has returned!

HIGHLY RECOMMNEDED

Dio died Sunday, according to a statement on his website by Wendy Dio, his wife and manager. Maureen O’Connor, a Los Angeles publicist, said Dio died in Los Angeles. No cause was given, but Dio had said last summer that he was suffering from stomach cancer.

“Today my heart is broken,” Wendy Dio wrote. “Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.”

Dio replaced Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1979. His first album with Sabbath, “Heaven and Hell,” helped rejuvenate the group, selling more than 1 million copies. But Dio left soon after the release of “Mob Rules” in 1981 to form Dio.

He returned to Black Sabbath briefly in the 1990s and more recently had formed Heaven & Hell, basically a version of the band without Osbourne.

“Because I’ve been in and out of [a number of bands], people think I’m difficult,” he told The Times in 1997. “That [probably] comes about because I’m very intense about what I do. I have a really high standard, and I expect people around me to reach that standard as well. That’s probably unfair.”

He was born Ronald James Padavona on July 10, 1942, in Portsmouth, N.H., and raised in New York. He once said he would have preferred playing for the Yankees to a life in rock music. He started his career with local bands such as the Vegas Kings.

His career took off in 1975 when he joined Rainbow. Dio had been playing with Elf, a band originally called the Electric Elves, but after guitarist Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple, he brought most of the band into Rainbow.

“With a guy who played guitar like Ritchie … and had this dark demeanor, it was perfect for me to get into a place where I could start writing darker and heavier things that I always wanted to do,” he told the Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton, N.Y, in 2007.

Many of Dio’s most memorable songs revolved around the struggle between good and evil, including “Heaven and Hell.” He also drew heavily on medieval imagery in such songs as “Neon Knights,” “Killing The Dragon” and “Stargazer.”

“I consider myself a singer, not a shouter,” he told the Buffalo News in 2007. “It’s always interesting to me when over the years fans have come up to me and said, ‘Man, nobody screams like you!’ I know they mean it as a compliment, but inside I’m going, ‘I’m not a screamer, I’m a singer.’ It’s about a marriage of technique and feel, emotional content — not just screaming.”

In 1986, Dio organized “Hear N’ Aid,” an all-star charity collaboration to raise money for famine relief in Africa.

“He possessed one of the greatest voices in all of heavy metal and had a heart to match it,” Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, whose band has toured with Dio since 1983, told the Associated Press.

Dio called off a European tour last year to begin treatment for his cancer.

“Most people have careers that last from three to five years, especially in metal,” he told The Times in 1997. “When you’ve have this good a run, you certainly don’t complain.”

Along with his wife, Dio is survived by a son, Daniel; his father, Pat Padavona; and two grandchildren, according to O’Connor.

Date: 02/02/10

A little girl, who must have been around 2 or 3 years of age at the most, was wearing a shirt that said ‘Ozzy Rules’, pretty much summing up the general opinion among the huge crowd that had gathered on the Sunset strip outside the Book Soup today. The reason and the occasion for this gathering was to meet Ozzy Osbourne and get copies of his recently released autobiography signed by the man himself. The queue of people extended well beyond the block within which the book store is located. It turned out to be a good decision for me and my buddies to join the line early, almost five hours before the signing started at 7 o clock!

The anticipation and excitement was apparent among the waiting fans and some of them went totally wild when cameramen from some news or TV channels started going around filming. One particular young fan even started singing ‘Diary Of A Madman’ which was quite amusing for everyone around him.  Even a team of Romanian TV personnel were going up and down the queue, asking people how they felt. They asked us too, and of course we were excited. When I told the guy that I’ve read the book already, he asked me how the book was and which was the best part.

We finally got in at a few minutes past 7 o clock and first we saw Ozzy’s wife Sharon, daughter Kelly and a couple other people standing and talking among each other in the space between two shelves. The moment finally arrived when I got to see Ozzy, get my book signed and say to him, ‘Thank you Ozzy!’ The man looked happy doing the signing session and didn’t seem to be grumbling or complaining, unlike some of the other famous rockers whom I’ve met recently. When I thanked him, he looked up and said with a smile on his face, ‘You’re welcome’.

All in all, it was a great event and a wonderful opportunity for fans to meet the legend.

Check out the book store’s website: www.booksoup.com

www.ozzy.com

My rating points: 9 out of 10

Ozzy Osbourne has taken us through a wonderful in-depth journey that has been his life. When I picked up the book, I knew that I’ll find it to be very interesting, but I can honestly say that it exceeded all my expectations.

Ozzy has told his story in two parts, part 1 ‘In The Beginning …’ in which he talks about everything from his childhood to his getting fired from Black Sabbath in 1979 while part 2 ‘Starting Over’ takes us from there to his own band’s quest and brings us almost to the present day Ozzy. The book also contains an awesome collection of pictures. Part 1 is the real gem here. For a Black Sabbath and Ozzy fan, it is nothing short of priceless.

He starts off by telling us the various ways in which he tried to earn money and support his family in his childhood days, some of which will leave you go, ‘Wow! Ozzy did THAT?’ He gives a greatly detailed account of whatever happened to him and around him in those days, including his stint in prison. He also gives glimpses of his addictive personality from a very early age. From there the book moves on to the most amazing, endearing story about the formation of Black Sabbath through the ‘Ozzy Zig Needs Gig; owns PA’ advert and their early before naming the band Black Sabbath, taking just one day to record the first album. Ozzy not only talks about what it took to get all this done, meet the other members of the original line-up and get a record deal, but also reveals a lot about Geezer, Tony and Bill from back in the formative years.

The rest of part 1 gets more and more fascinating as you continue reading it, never wanting to put the book down. It is full of ridiculously funny incidents and anecdotes that are sure to leave you in splits. I have literally never had so much fun reading a book before, laughing out loud at countless instances. It was more about how much shock value their music had in those days and the hilariously described reactions among the crowd wherever they played. Besides this, there are also instances where the band members play pranks on each other and get unbelievably high on drugs and alcohol. The lunatic Satan worshippers who mistook Sabbath for a Satanist band have been mentioned as well. One particular hotel story involving Ozzy’s way of dealing with them and another one about his attempt to hide the coke from the cops will have you falling out of your chair or bed laughing all the way.

On the down side, such things like touring hardships, encounters with record companies, lawsuits puts things into perspective quite a bit and Ozzy makes sure to let us know that being in Black Sabbath was not always about the ‘Rock N Roll’. The kind of effort which they put in to travel across Europe for the first time really tell us what it took to become a successful band in those days. For Ozzy, it would have been a lot easier to recall the good memories rather than the bad ones, but he has done a great job in recollecting both kinds, specially towards the end of part 1 which deals with his crazy drunken outbursts, failing marriage, the decline of Black Sabbath and his firing from the band.

Part 2 continues describing the countless drunken escapades he had. This is also where he talks about his love affair with Sharon and how she was the one responsible to pull him together and get his band going. The part about him meeting Randy Rhoads and hiring him isn’t as detailed as the story about the Sabbath guys, but it really was the part I was most looking forward to read and it still leaves a charming impact on the reader. The description of Randy’s fatally tragic accident left me quite upset and a picture of him and Rachel Youngblood, their costume and make-up specialist, just before they boarded that plane, almost brought a tear or two.

The story goes a little bit into Ozzy’s gigs for his own band and how outrageous they were to how Sharon got Ozzfest going and impacted Ozzy’s career, but generally it mentions less and less about the band and more about Ozzy’s personal life, his health problems due to the ridiculous amounts of drug and alcohol consumption, the birth and growing up of his children, the fights with Sharon, his rehab stories and of course the infamous dove and bat eating episodes. The way he and his family dealt with the reality show and the attention from the press and public goes to show how much Ozzy hated it and the fact that he did it for the sake of Sharon and the kids.

I would mention very few points of criticism that I have for this book, mainly the almost zero mention of Zakk Wylde, the absent explanation of what happened at Ozzfest 2005 with Iron Maiden and the lack of mention given to the various musicians who played in the band after the Randy Rhoads years. These are just about the only things that are preventing me from giving this a perfect 10.

Overall, I am simply amazed by how much Ozzy has been able to remember to put it down as ‘I Am OZZY’, despite, in his own words, “being loaded on booze, coke, acid, Quaaludes, glue, cough mixture, heroin, Rophynol, Klonopin, Vicodin and too many other heavy-duty substances to list, and on more than a few occasions all at the same time”. At this point, until some of the other people mentioned in the book come out in the press or in their own books with contradictions, I am inclined to believe whatever he has said in this book. An absolute must-read and must-have for any rock music fan. Two thumbs up!!

www.ozzy.com