The political wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne, one of the most famous rock frontmen of all time, died Tuesday aged 76.

The Black Sabbath singer was infamous for his on- and off-stage antics (he bit the head off a bat during a concert and bit the heads off two doves during a meeting with his record label).

His death comes less than three weeks after he reunited with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005 at Back to the Beginning, an all-star farewell concert featuring some of the biggest names in metal.

Osbourne’s fame meant he had encounters with many world leaders; in 1984 he released a T-shirt emblazoned with “Ozzy for President.” Here are some of his thoughts on politics through the years.

Ozzy on Tony Blair …

“I’m not so comfortable with politicians,” Osbourne wrote in his 2009 book “I Am Ozzy” before recounting an encounter with former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair at an awards show. He described Blair as “all right, I suppose; very charming. But I couldn’t get over the fact that our young soldiers were dying out in the Middle East and he could still find the time to hang around with pop stars.”

Osbourne said Blair, who played in a band called Ugly Rumours while a student at Oxford, told him he “could never work out the chords” to Black Sabbath classic Iron Man.

“I wanted to say, ‘F**k me, Tony, that’s a staggering piece of information, that is. I mean, you’re at war with Afghanistan, people are getting blown up all over the place, so who honestly gives a f**k that you could never work out the chords to ‘Iron Man?'”

Ozzy on George W. Bush …

In what can only be described as an odd booking, Osbourne was invited to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2002. Then-U.S. President George W. Bush showed the assembled politicians and journalists a video in which his vice president, Dick Cheney, pretended to urinate on the door to the Oval Office. This was an obvious nod to Osbourne, who in 1982 urinated on the Alamo Cenotaph, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo (Osbourne was banned from the city of San Antonio as a result, although the ban was later rescinded).

Osbourne told the ShortList media outlet that he’d drunk three bottles of wine before the event and described Bush as “a c**t.”

“I mean, no one would come near me because I was off me f**king nuts. I’ve met him [Bush], I’ve met Bill Clinton, I’ve met loads of them. But they’re very strange people. Hillary Clinton was wonderful, a very nice lady. George Bush, I never quite got his deal. The thing is, I don’t suppose he expected World War 3 to begin when he got voted in, did he? It was a bit of a shocker, a kick in the pants. He hadn’t been in office more than five minutes and 9/11 went down.”

Ozzy on Donald Trump …

Osbourne is one of a long list of musicians to have complained about Trump’s using their music. Trump used Osbourne’s solo hit “Crazy Train” in a social media post following the 2020 Democratic debates.

“We are sending notice to the Trump campaign (or any other campaigns) that they are forbidden from using any of Ozzy Osbourne’s music in political ads or in any political campaigns,” Ozzy and wife Sharon Osbourne wrote in a statement. “Ozzy’s music cannot be used for any means without approvals.”

“Perhaps he [Trump] should reach out to some of his musician friends. Maybe Kanye West, Kid Rock or Ted Nugent will allow use of their music,” the statement added, mocking artists who had shown vocal support for the president.

Ozzy on the political response to Covid …

Osbourne was critical of Trump’s response to Covid-19, telling Rolling Stone that the president was “acting like a fool” and saying on his Sirius XM radio show: “Whether you like the government or whether you don’t, whatever, Dr [Anthony] Fauci, all these virologist people, they [tell] us what we should do: wear a mask, wash hands, social distance.” 

He added in the Rolling Stone interview: “If I was running for president, I would try and find out a little bit about politics. Because the f**king guy you’ve got in there now doesn’t know that much about it, I don’t think.”

“It’s not like anyone could be a f**king heart surgeon and just go in with a scalpel. You have to know what you’re f**king doing.”

Ozzy on all politicians …

“I don’t understand politicians; they all should form one big huge rock band and see how they play,” he said on British TV show Good Morning Britain in 2020.