Few figures in rock and metal have ever lived as loudly, wildly, or unapologetically as Ozzy Osbourne. From fronting Black Sabbath to redefining himself as a solo artist (and later, reality TV icon), Ozzy has never been one to hold back – not on stage, and definitely not in interviews.
Below is a collection of 40 of his most memorable quotes!
“Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.”
“Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus.”
“To be a liar, you’ve got to have a great memory, and I don’t have a memory.”
“Rock music is not meant to be perfect.”
“I’m a lunatic by nature, and lunatics don’t need training — they just are.”
“Hating people isn’t a productive way of living.”
“You can’t kill rock ’n’ roll. It’s here to stay.”
“People say it’s hard at the top, but it’s even harder at the bottom.”
“I don’t want you to play me a riff that’s going to impress Joe Satriani; give me a riff that makes a kid want to go out and buy a guitar.”
“If you can laugh at your mistakes, it’s a good thing.”
“I used to get upset by people not understanding me, but I’ve made a career out of it now.”
“Maybe it’s not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate.”
“It’s sad, y’know, what money does to people.”
“What can go wrong will go wrong.”
“My father always said I’d do something big. ‘You’ll either be special or end up in prison.’ I did both.”
“There are no unsavable souls.”
“Everybody likes the bad guy… It’s always the bad things people get a kick out of.”
“I try and be a nice, neighborly fucking person.”
“So what’s the point in hating anyone? There’s enough hate in the world already.”
“Sharon saves my life every day… I live for my wife.”
“If World War Three ever happens… I’ll just say, ‘You cunts! I bet you can’t hit our house!’”
“My son Jack just got out of rehab… I’m a little pissed off he never gave me a few.”
“Who the fuck’s Justin Bieber?”
“Every day I try to learn something new. If I didn’t, I might as well be dead.”
“Reality’s a lovely place, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”
“I’m a survivor. I’ve been through more shit than a sewage worker, and I’m still here.”
“All this Satan stuff — it’s a load of bollocks.”
“I don’t remember biting the head off a bat, but if I did, it probably tasted like chicken.”
“I couldn’t conform to a 9-to-5 job. Lasted about a month before I told them to go fuck themselves.”
“At best I’ve got ten years left — and when you’re older, time picks up speed.”
“If I can’t do more shows… I just want one final gig to say, ‘Thanks for my life.’ If I die afterward, I’ll die happy.”
“The graveyard’s full of my drinking partners. Why am I the last man standing?”
“I get high, I get fucked up… There must be something wrong with the system if so many people need to escape it.”
“He played this fucking solo and I’m like, ‘Am I hallucinating or what the fuck is this?!’”
“I don’t need to lecture my kids about drugs — they’ve seen me come home in police vans.”
“Her laugh… I fancied her from a distance for quite a while.”
“I blew it on coke… Sharon came around and said, ‘Straighten up, I’ll manage you.’”
“That was the fucking change of my life.” (on forming Black Sabbath after watching a horror movie)
“It’s never failed me yet.” (on naming the band while in the toilet)
“Music is my drug now. It keeps me alive.”
1948–2025
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