By 1979, Ozzy Osbourne was basically a walking ghost. Black Sabbath had kicked him out for being too "unreliable," which is a polite way of saying he was buried under a mountain of booze and chemical substances. He spent three months holed up in a room at the Le Parc Hotel in Los Angeles, curtains drawn, waiting to die. Honestly, most people thought he would.
Then came Sharon Levy.
She wasn't just some supportive girlfriend. She was the daughter of Don Arden, the "Al Capone of Pop," a man so feared he once hung a rival manager out of a window. Sharon didn't just walk into that hotel room to bring Ozzy a sandwich; she walked in to build an empire. The Ozzy and Sharon 80s era wasn't just about heavy metal—it was a decade of near-death experiences, shrewd business moves, and a level of domestic chaos that would have broken anyone else.
From Rock Bottom to "Blizzard of Ozz"
Sharon basically bullied Ozzy back into the light. She took over his management, which effectively meant cutting out her own father. This wasn't a clean break. It sparked a legendary 20-year feud between her and Don Arden.
She helped him assemble the "A-Team": bassist Bob Daisley, drummer Lee Kerslake, and the lightning-bolt talent of guitarist Randy Rhoads. This wasn't just a band; it was a rescue mission. When Blizzard of Ozz dropped in 1980, it didn't just "do okay." It went multi-platinum. Songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" proved that Ozzy wasn't just a Sabbath leftover—he was a solo powerhouse.
But the success was messy.
✨ Don't miss: Why Dylan Efron Shirtless Photos Actually Changed the Way We See the Other Efron
- The Dove Incident (1981): During a meeting with CBS Records executives, Sharon told Ozzy to release doves as a peace gesture. Instead, Ozzy bit the head off one. He was wasted. The suits were horrified. Sharon, ever the strategist, realized that while the executives hated it, the kids loved the rebellion.
- The Bat Incident (1982): In Des Moines, a fan threw what Ozzy thought was a rubber bat. He bit into it. It was real. He had to get a series of painful rabies shots.
The Tragic Loss of Randy Rhoads
You can't talk about the 80s for these two without the plane crash. On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads died in a freak accident when the tour bus driver took a small plane up and clipped the bus. Ozzy and Sharon were asleep on the bus at the time.
It shattered Ozzy. He felt responsible. Sharon had to be the glue, pushing him to keep moving because, in her world, stopping meant sinking. They got married in Hawaii on July 4, 1982—Ozzy chose the date so he'd never forget his anniversary—but the mourning for Randy never really stopped.
The Domestic War Zone
They were the "it" couple of metal, but behind the mansion gates, things were violent. Sharon has admitted in documentaries like The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne that they would go at it, physically.
It wasn't just shouting.
They threw things.
They fought like animals.
Sharon once threw a bottle of scotch at his head. In 1984, Ozzy was arrested in Memphis for public intoxication. That same year, Sharon gave birth to Kelly, and Ozzy was so drunk he fainted. It sounds like a dark comedy now, but it was a nightmare then.
The 1989 Turning Point
Everything boiled over in 1989. Ozzy was on a week-long "bender." Sharon recalls him being weirdly calm, which was scarier than the shouting. He walked up to her and said, "We've come to a decision that you've got to die."
He tried to strangle her.
Sharon hit the panic button. The police arrived, and Ozzy was hauled off to jail for attempted murder. He woke up the next morning with no memory of it. Sharon didn't press charges, but she did force him into six months of medical detention. This was the moment the Ozzy and Sharon 80s story almost became a true-crime documentary.
Business Brilliance Amidst the Madness
While their personal life was a wreck, Sharon’s business mind was sharp. She wasn't just managing a singer; she was building a brand.
- She steered him through the "suicide solution" lawsuits.
- She kept him on the road even when he was a liability.
- She navigated the transition from the 70s blues-rock of Sabbath to the 80s hair-metal adjacent "Prince of Darkness" persona.
She knew that Ozzy's "madman" image was his greatest asset. Every time he did something "insane," she found a way to market it or mitigate the legal fallout. She was the filter through which the world saw him—making sure he looked like a legend rather than just a guy struggling with addiction.
📖 Related: Sugar Bear Thompson: What Most People Get Wrong
What Most People Get Wrong
Many people think Sharon was just "the wife" until the MTV show started. That’s totally false. In the 80s, she was the one in the trenches. She was the one dealing with promoters who tried to rip them off. She was the one managing a guy who was often too high to know what city he was in.
She basically invented the modern celebrity-manager archetype.
Moving Forward: The Legacy
The 80s for the Osbournes was about survival. If you're looking to understand why they are so inseparable today, you have to look at those ten years. They survived a plane crash, a murder attempt, and enough drugs to kill a small village.
Next Steps for Fans and Researchers:
💡 You might also like: Height of Jason Statham: Why He Looks Different on Screen
- Watch the Biography: The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne: It provides the most candid interviews from Sharon regarding the 1989 strangulation incident.
- Listen to Diary of a Madman: Specifically the production quality—it’s where you see Sharon’s influence in making Ozzy sound modern and relevant for the MTV age.
- Read Extreme (Sharon’s Autobiography): It details the brutal fallout with her father, Don Arden, during the 80s management transition.
The Ozzy and Sharon 80s era proved one thing: they were a business partnership first and a romance second, and that’s exactly why it lasted. Sharon didn't just love the man; she believed in the product. Without her, Ozzy would have been a footnote in rock history. Instead, he became the King of it.