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We're big fans of MTV's reality-comedy show The Osbournes, which made us curious about Papa Ozzy's history too. The sites listed in Yahoo! categories about Ozzy Osbourne and The Osbournes led to answers faster than you can bite the head off a bat. Ozzy's real name is John Michael Osbourne. He was born on December 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England. Kids gave him the nickname "Ozzy" in grammar school -- they were simply shortening his last name. This biography page has
awfully cute photos of the little Ozzman at ages two and eight. His family was poor, and his career outlook was bleak. By age 20, he'd already served time in prison for petty theft. It was in the slammer that Ozzy got the "O-Z-Z-Y" tattoos across his knuckles as well as the smiley face tattoos on his knees. Music saved Osbourne's soul, and soon after prison, he met the musicians with whom he would form the seminal heavy metal band, Black Sabbath. As the group began to take off, Ozzy met and married his first wife, Thelma Mayfair, in 1971. Thelma had a five-year-old son, Elliot Kingsley, from a previous marriage, and Ozzy adopted the boy. Together, Ozzy and Thelma had a daughter, Jessica Starshine, in 1973, and a son, Louis Jon, in 1975. Reportedly, Louis is the little boy pictured on
the cover of Ozzy's 1981 solo album, Diary of a Madman. These days, Louis is a deep house/techno DJ in the U.K. In 1976, Black Sabbath hired a new manager, Don Arden. His daughter was Sharon Arden -- this was how Ozzy met his second wife. In 1978, Black Sabbath kicked Ozzy out of the band because of his uncontrolled drug and alcohol abuse. Sharon encouraged Ozzy to strike out as a solo musician, and her father continued as Ozzy's manager during his first few solo albums. Around this time, Ozzy divorced his first wife, and on July 4, 1982, he married Sharon, who then bought out her father's management contract with Ozzy
and became his manager. Ozzy and Sharon have three children together. They are Aimee Rachel (born in 1983), Kelly (born in 1984), and Jack (born in 1985). This page has pictures of all of the Osbourne children from both wives (except for Ozzy's adopted son). Kelly and Jack were featured prominently in The Osbournes, while Aimee chose to remain off-camera. Sharon Osbourne has suggested that
her eldest daughter may show up on the show's proposed second season.
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