John Michael Osbourne was born on 3 December 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, England, and is widely known as a songwriter, singer and television personality, considered to be one of the developers of heavy metal music, and being called the ‘Godfather of Heavy Metal’. He initially came to notice playing with the band Black Sabbath, but from the early ’80s continually moved until concentrating on a solo career. Ozzy has been inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame and the US Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, plus has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was the first on the Birmingham Walk of Stars.
So just how rich is Ozzy Osbourne? Authoritative sources estimate that Ozzy has a net worth of over $220 million, accumulated during his career in the music industry which began in the late 1960s.
Ozzy Osbourne Net Worth $220 Million
Ozzy’s father John was a toolmaker, and his mother Lillian a factory worker. He was called ‘Ozzy’ in primary school, and adopted it as his stage name. As Ozzy suffers from dyslexia, school really wasn’t for him except for drama, so he left at 15 and took various jobs, although training as a plumber, then as an apprentice toolmaker, but spending a short time in jail for petty theft taught him a timely lesson.
Ozzy was really interested in music, and sang with a couple of bands in the late ’60s, one of which became Black Sabbath with bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne, drummer Bill Ward, and guitarist and songwriter Tony Iommi, now the only surviving original member of the band. The band’s style, partly reflected in their name, was very appealing, and they were significantly successful in the UK and USA during the ’70s, with their debut self-titled album, and the follow-up album Paranoid, eventually achieving multi-platinum status. However, Ozzy’s increasing use of drugs saw him leave the band in 1979, although there have been several collaborations since; regardless, his net worth was very well established.
In the early 1980s, the group Necromandus played with Ozzy Osbourne on his first solo project, the Blizzard of Ozz incarnation, also the title of his first solo album, a popular success with heavy metal fans. Ozzy’s subsequent solo career spread over more than three decades, has increased his net worth the most; seven of the eleven studio albums he has released have achieved multi-platinum certifications in the US alone. A further large financial success has come from annual festival tours called ‘Ozzfest’, of the US and sometimes Europe. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and second wife and manager Sharon in the mid-’90s, and performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups have been featured. Since its beginning, sources estimate that over five million people have attended Ozzfest, resulting in revenues of more than $100 million.
Ozzy Osbourne’s net worth also rose sharply as a result of ‘The Osbournes’, a reality television series showcasing the life of the singer and his family which was aired from 2002-05; the show was created by Jonathan Taylor and became one of MTV’s greatest hits. The success of the show led to the Osbournes hosting the 30th Annual American Music Awards in January 2003, and the BRIT Awards held at Earls Court, London in 2008. Various awards and nominations have also helped increase Ozzy’s net worth, including a Grammy Award for the track ‘I Don’t Want to Change the World’, a Godlike Genius Award from NME magazine, among many others.
Additionally. Ozzy won the Literary Achievement honour in 2010, for his autobiography “I Am Ozzy”, which hit the New York Times’ non-fiction best-seller list at No 2. Osbourne has also acted three times as a judge for the Independent Music Awards, which supports independent artists’ careers.
In his less-than-private personal life, Osbourne has been married twice, firstly to Thelma Reese (1971-82), with whom he has a daughter named Jessica Starshine, and a son named Louis John. Ozzy has been married to Sharon Arden since 1982, and their three children are Aimee, Kelly and Jack . Recent rumours of Ozzy’s affairs seem to have done little to break-up the couple. Ozzy openly blames his sometimes controversial lifestyle on drug and alcohol abuse, and praises Sharon for constantly dragging him out of periods of instability. They currently divide their time between residences in Buckinghamshire, England, and Malibu, California.
