Metal first couple the Osbournes to split: reports

LOS ANGELES | Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne, one of the enduring couples in the hard-living world of heavy metal, have split, reports said Sunday.

Celebrity news outlets E! News and Entertainment Tonight quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Osbournes were ending their marriage of more than 33 years.

However, People magazine reported that, while the 67-year-old singer was moving out of their Los Angeles-area mansion, the separation may be temporary.

People said that the split was linked to Sharon’s suspicions he was having an affair. All three news outlets said that Ozzy, long notorious for his drug and alcohol use, had not had a relapse from his recent sobriety.

Sharon, 63, met Osbourne when her father was managing Black Sabbath, Ozzy’s original band that emerged from Birmingham, England and helped define heavy metal with thunderous blues-influenced guitar and a lyrical fascination with the occult.

Sharon not only married Ozzy but took charge of his solo career, recruiting a string of talented guitarists and songwriters who kept him at the forefront of metal — and controversy — for years.

She proved so successful that she branched out and became a manager for other hard rock acts.

Sharon stepped out of the shadows in the early 2000s when her life with Ozzy and two of their three children was turned into an MTV reality television show, “The Osbournes.”

source: interaksyon.com

Ozzy Osbourne says Black Sabbath to record new album

NEW YORK (AFP) | Some 45 years after pioneering heavy metal, Black Sabbath will return to the studio for a new album that could be the band’s last, frontman Ozzy Osbourne says.

Osbourne, in an interview published Monday, said Black Sabbath had a “great” experience with last year’s comeback album “13″ and a subsequent tour.

The heavy metal godfather, 65, said he told his wife and manager Sharon Osbourne that he wanted to return to his solo work unless Black Sabbath came together for another album.

“I said, ‘Sharon, I ain’t fucking 21 anymore. If we’re going to do it, I want to do it before I’m 70! Time isn’t on our side,’” he told Metal Hammer magazine.

“So she made the call and came back and said ‘Yeah, the record company wants another album,’” he said.

Osbourne said Black Sabbath has not yet written new music but plans to return to the studio in early 2015 for what would be the band’s 20th studio album. He said the band members had not decided whether to record in their native Britain or in Osbourne’s adopted Los Angeles.

But Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath’s lead guitarist and driving force behind the music, in a recent message on his website said he has “been in the studio writing and listening to some of my earlier ideas for songs.”

Osbourne acknowledged that Iommi’s health could affect the next album as the guitarist has been treated for cancer.

“Obviously a lot of it is coming down to Tony’s health,” Osbourne said.

He said that the band planned to work again with Rick Rubin, the influential producer whose work has spanned genres from hip-hop to metal. Rubin produced last year’s “13,” which was Black Sabbath’s first album in 18 years and reached number one on album charts in both the United States and Britain.

The band helped pioneer heavy metal, starting with its self-titled first album in 1970. Black Sabbath incorporated elements of the blues into a heavier guitar sound, accompanied by themes of the occult, which often alarmed religious groups.

Sharon Osbourne quitting ‘America’s Got Talent’ over son’s treatment

LOS ANGELES – “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne said on Monday she is leaving the television talent show, blaming a dispute with network NBC over her son Jack.

Osbourne told the New York Post she was quitting because NBC dropped Jack Osbourne from a different reality show shortly after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

But she made clear in a Twitter message on Monday that she would stay on “America’s Got Talent” for the remainder of the current season, which will resume after NBC ends its coverage of the London Olympics.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I love @nbcagt w/ all my heart and will of course finish out the season. It is still one of the best shows on tv,” Osbourne posted on Twitter.

“I love @nbcagt @howiemandel @HowardStern & @NickCannon. We have the world’s best crew. And most importantly, we have the best talent on tv,” she said.

“Sharon has been a valuable part of the NBC family. We regret any misunderstanding and wish Jack well,” NBC said in a statement.

“America’s Got Talent” is the biggest summer show on U.S. television and Osbourne has been on the judging panel since 2007.

But she told the New York Post on Monday, “It’s time to move on.”

Osbourne said in the New York Post story that her son Jack, 26, was in line to take part in NBC’s upcoming reality show “Stars Earn Stripes”, which puts celebrities through military fitness training. But she said he was let go two days before he was due to start work on the show, and shortly after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I just can’t be fake,” she told the New York Post. “It’s discrimination, and it was badly handled.”

Producers have said Jack Osbourne never signed a contract for “Stars Earn Stripes”.

Sharon Osbourne first hinted at her intention to leave “America’s Got Talent” in July when she tweeted to fellow judge Howard Stern “money is not the reason I’m not returning to @nbcagt,” but did not divulge details.

The comments appeared to catch NBC off guard with the network’s entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt telling television journalists, “We don’t even know what is going on. It is probably much ado about nothing.”

source: interaksyon.com