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GOD Bless Ozzy Osbourne

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Ozzy Osbournes four decade track record as a culturally relevant artist is unprecedented, but his personal struggles have been shrouded in secrecy, until now. Featuring never before seen footage uncovered from the archives and interviews with Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee and others, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is he first documentary to take viewers inside the complex mind of Rock's great icon.

 

Press Conference with Singer Ozzy Osbourne, Producer
Jack Osbourne, Director Mike Fleiss, Director Mike Piscitelli

 

Q) : Ozzy, did it take some convincing for you to do this documentary film, or did you sign up right away?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : They asked me, but I didn’t have anything to do with the making of what they were doing. After you do the TV show like "The Osbournes," you know what goes on behind the camera and in front of it. So I didn’t mind doing it. They knew what they were doing, and I gave them free reign. I saw the film last night at the premiere to its conclusion for the first time.

(Q) : Jack, do you feel like you accomplished your goals in producing "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne"? And did you learn anything new about your father?

(Jack Osbourne) : Absolutely. I feel like I definitely accomplished what I set out to do with this, but the strange thing is that I don’t think I necessarily learned anything new about my dad. I got more of a three-dimensional story of situations, from interviewing other people, you get different perspectives. That’s what I enjoyed the most. It’s been so long since I’ve been hearing the same stories from my mom and my dad. And when we started talking in front of people, that’s when things worked.

(Q) : Mike Fleiss, was it overwhelming to tell Ozzy Osbourne’s life story in a movie that’s 90 minutes long?

( Mike Fleiss) : It was definitely fun going through the archives. I’m a lifelong Black Sabbath and Ozzy fan. It was a joy … The whole process was incredibly fun.

(Q) : Mike Piscitelli, what was the most challenging thing about gathering material for this documentary?

(Mike Piscitelli) : The hours. We filmed 1,500 hours. It was a lot of hours. And we had two years with it, begging to come over to get more footage and ask the same questions over and over again. There was a lot to go through, and then to put that in 90 minutes. And everybody would go, "What about this? What about that?"

(Jack Osbourne) : We’re going to try to compete against "Harry Potter" with the amount of documentary footage we have.

(Q) Ozzy, what did you take away from seeing "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne"?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : What an asshole I’ve been! When you’re in it, you don’t realize the fact that you really are. It takes other people to be objective … But I’m still here.

(Q) Jack, you’ve said that you’re enjoying life more behind the camera, compared to in front of the camera. What do you enjoy most about being a film producer?

(Jack Osbourne) : I just really enjoy the creative process … getting the ball rolling. Hearing day in and day out, you hear what the guys were shooting, being in the edit — the whole thing I find so much more exciting than being a box of cereal on TV.

(Q) : To the directors, what makes a great rock’n’roll documentary?

(Mike Fleiss) : I think what makes this movie unique is that we’re talking about Ozzy, the most important figure in rock’n’roll, first of all. The most important thing is Ozzy was so incredibly generous. He was so open and candid. And without that unblinking honesty, it’s impossible to make a really compelling film. And I think that’s why the movie works: because Ozzy gave so much of himself and his life and his stories. That was the key to the picture.

(Q) Ozzy, is there anything that you wish hadn’t been in this documentary?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : No. One of the things I didn’t want to do, and I made it crystal clear, was that I didn’t want to be seen as an angel with wings on. We’ve all seen how wonderful the lifestyle of a rock star is … pink M&Ms and all that shit. I just wanted the real story … The good things and the bad things were a part of the journey, I suppose. I just wanted to be honest. It’s true. I can’t deny the problems that I used to have when I was drinking. It’s true.

(Q) : Ozzy, how would you sum up your legacy in one word or phrase?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : Survival. As I’m getting older now a lot of my friends I used to go out and party with, they’re all dead. The fact that I’ve been through that, I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve been through all that, but it’s part of my journey. I’m lucky to be alive. I’m lucky to be playing music.

I’m currently finishing a world tour. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and think, "Wow, I’m 62, and people still want to see my music" That’s something in itself. When I made the first Black Sabbath album, I didn’t think I would be 45 and still doing this. I’m very lucky.

(Q) : Considering that Ozzy has already done a reality show and been in other documentaries, did you see "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" as a way to set the record straight about Ozzy?

(Jack Osbourne) : Absolutely. That’s basically what it was. I wanted to set the record straight about who Ozzy Osbourne actually is. "The Osbournes" [reality show] was done at a very strange time in our family, and there was a lot of things going on. Doing the show changed a lot of the dynamic of things. My dad isn’t the same person today as he was back then — and I wanted to show that.

Literally, the whole idea came from a conversation a guy, a publicist in England. We went out for dinner one night, and he was like, "What are you doing? What do you want to do?" I was like, "I want to make documentaries." And he was like, "Well, why don’t you just get a camera?" And I was like, "OK, I’m going to." And he was like, "In the meantime, just start filming your dad, just as a subject and just to talk with him." And I was like, "Yeah, that would kind of be an interesting idea."

And then I came back, and I called Mike Piscitelli, who’s been a friend of mine for a very long time, and I was like, "Hey, I’ve got this idea." And we put our heads together. And sometime down the road, we partnered up with Mike Fleiss. It was literally a conversation over dinner that turned into us doing the movie that it is.

(Q) : In "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne," the movie showed how back in the ‘80s, there was a crazy rumor reported by a lot of media outlets that cats would be killed on stage at one of your concerts. Ozzy, what’s the craziest rumor you ever heard about yourself?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : The only thing that shocked me was … when that animal thing came about … It got out of control. On one occasion — I don’t remember where the gig was — someone came into my dressing room, and he says to me, "Do you realize that you’ve petrified people in this town?" I can’t even remember where I was.

I said, "I don’t know what you mean." And he took me outside, and there was this kid in line with a cow’s head on his shoulder. I’m like, "What?" And I’m thinking, "What, he cut this cow’s head off because he thinks I’m going to do something with it"?

It got way out of control. It snowballed. In the film, when they said all these cats were going to be killed, that was a daily thing. A lot of people just made it up. It was not made up by me.

(Q) Ozzy, there’s been a recent rumor spread by the British tabloids that you’re going to be a judge on "The X Factor" in the United Kingdom. Is that rumor true or not?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : I don’t think so. No, I’m not [going to be] on ‘The X Factor’ at all. That’s not my gig. It might be [for] my wife, but not me.

(Q) : To the filmmakers, what thing or scene are you most proud of that is revealed about Ozzy that fans may not have known about him from seeing "The Osbournes" reality show or Ozzy’s "Behind the Music" episode, or reading his memoir?

(Mike Piscitelli): I’d say: Ozzy. Everyone has seen so much of him, but nobody has really seen John, the guy. When I was filming those moments on the road, he forgot the cameras were there, and decided to break it down. It wasn’t like revealing any shocking news. It was more like revealing what an awesome guy he is, and why we came to watch him on screen. He’s more than just a rock star.

(Q) : Ozzy, how have you managed to keep your family with Sharon together?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : I don’t know … I can’t really answer the question. In my first marriage, I didn’t keep the family together. In my second marriage, I did. There isn’t a secret. I didn’t take something from my first marriage. It’s just the way it sort of happened. I’m glad. What I got from my first marriage, it was very, very painful. It didn’t stop me from drinking. It was crazy.

When I turned around and said to myself, "I don’t like me like this anymore," that was the first step I took. People go, "Oh, I went to rehab, and it didn’t work." It’s not that rehab didn’t work. The information that they gave you was something you didn’t practice. That’s the difference. I just got fed up with me being f*cked up. It wasn’t fun anymore. I mean, if I was still having fun with it, I’d be still doing it …

(Q) : Jack, what’s next for you and your production company?

(Jack Osbourne) : We changed our name to Schweet Productions. I don’t know. We’re talking about maybe doing something with Tommy Lee next. Mike and I might be working on a Black Sabbath horror movie. That’s kind of up in the air. We’re working on that. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.

(Q) : Ozzy, do you ever worry that all the bad publicity for your past outrageous behavior will overshadow your musical legacy?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : I don’t know. I can’t change the past, but I can try to make a better future for me ... There’s nothing crazy that I’ve done that I’d want to do again … So far.

(Q) : Ozzy, is there anything that you wouldn’t reveal in this documentary if you were asked about it?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : Not really … All of us in this room have done something where you go, "Shit! Did I do that?" For me, it was almost every night. It was like that. "Well, I sh*t in my pants." It depends on what you have an interest in … There are loads of footage that went out … but that was their job, not mine.

(Q) : In "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne," we see Ozzy learning how to drive. Did you ever get your driver’s license?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : Yes, I’ve got a driver’s license.

(Jack Osbourne) : He got a Ferrari and crashed it the next day.

(Q) : In this documentary, you seemed so open about describing your insecurities and failures. Was that hard for you?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : If you’re not open, someone’s going to go, "Oh, I know something about you. If people say, "Did you do that?" You go, "Yeah." People know so much anyway, especially now, you walk out of the car, and people see it on TV.

Even now, people go, "So, Ozzy, did you really bite the head off a bat?" If you don’t know that, you've been living in a cave. I like people to ask me questions that aren’t ancient. Can you imagine how many times people have asked me that question? My epitaph is going to read: "Ozzy Osbourne — born in Birmingham — the man who bit the head off of a bat."

(Q) : Mike Fleiss, can you elaborate on your earlier statement that Ozzy Osbourne is the most important figure in rock’n’roll?

(Mike Fleiss) : I think he’s one of the architects of the heavy-rock movement which is still a thriving part of the music industry. And what I think is really incredible about Ozzy is no other artist who came from the ‘60s is still selling tickets and records to kids in their teens today. It’s not true of anybody else. The man plays worlds tours, and they’re all sold out. He just played a concert a few nights ago in Reno, and it was huge. Who maintains that over four decades? I don’t think anybody else. I think that’s why he stands above the rest. There are other great artists, obviously, great contributors, but in terms of longevity and relevance, it’s unmatched.

(Q) : Jack and Ozzy, what usually happens when your immediate family members are together?

(Jack Osbourne) : Usually, we argue. Just crap. No, it’s good. We’re very rarely all together at the same time.

(Ozzy Osbourne) : My youngest two girls just do not get along.

(Jack Osbourne) : Aimee and Kelly love to fight. We spent Christmas together, the last time. And last night [at the world premiere of this film, we were all together doing a nice family outing. You saw my show. You know what it’s like. But ultimately, it’s pretty loving, I would say.

(Q) : Ozzy, how do you like to spend your down time?

(Ozzy Osbourne) : Down time? What’s that? I’ve just come back from South America. I had a show there. I like to keep busy. When you’re not busy, the creep crawlies start coming in … I do sketch work. I listen to music. I got this thing on my computer where I watch American TV wherever I go. CNN.

End.