Ozzy Osbourne will write about his life, career, and health struggles in a new memoir.
Grand Central will publish the rock star’s Last Rites in the fall, the press announced in a news release. It calls the book “the shocking, bitterly hilarious, never-before-told story of Osbourne’s descent into hell.”
Osbourne first gained fame as the co-founder and lead singer of heavy-metal pioneers Black Sabbath, known for iconic songs including “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” and “Iron Man.” He was fired from the band in 1979 and embarked on a solo career, scoring hits with singles like “Crazy Train,” “Flying High Again,” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” He and his family starred in the hit MTV reality show The Osbournes from 2002 to 2005.
Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath in 1997; the band played its final show last week in its hometown of Birmingham, England.
Osbourne is the author of a previous memoir, I Am Ozzy, co-written with Chris Ayres and published by Grand Central in 2010. A critic for Kirkus called the book “an autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.”
Grand Central says Osbourne will write about his health struggles in the new memoir. In 2019, he was hospitalized with pneumonia, and later sustained a fall that severely injured him. He has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and emphysema.
In a statement, Osbourne said, “People say to me, if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now, would you change anything? I’m like, f*** no. If I’d been clean and sober, I wouldn’t be Ozzy. If I’d done normal, sensible things, I wouldn’t be Ozzy. Look, if it ends tomorrow, I can’t complain. I’ve been all around the world. Seen a lot of things. I’ve done good... and I’ve done bad. But right now, I’m not ready to go anywhere.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
