Ozzy Osbourne is a controversial figure in rock music history. In his prime, the Prince of Darkness was a party animal and abused drugs and alcohol. Despite years of hard partying, many have wondered how the Black Sabbath singer has remained alive for all these years. According to research that studied Osbourne’s whole genome, his genetic mutation helped him survive decades of drug misuse.
The results were shared at the TEDMED Conference held in October 2010. Osbourne’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, spoke at the conference, sharing that her husband will outlive all of them. Osbourne’s long career in rock music earned him the name, the Godfather of Heavy Metal.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Genetic Mutation Kept Him Alive Despite Hard-Partying
Genome researchers at Knome, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts conducted a roughly $40,000 test on Ozzy Osbourne’s DNA to determine how he survived years of substance abuse. The geneticists discovered that the musician possessed several gene variants that could influence how his body absorbs drugs.
Sharon Osbourne shared that her husband would see the end of the world. She also expressed fascination with how his body endured so much. She shared (via ABC News):
“I’ve always said that at the end of the world, there will be roaches, Ozzy and Keith Richards. He’s going to outlive us all. That fascinated me — how his body can endure so much.”
The company had initially aimed to study talented musicians like Osbourne. However, his longevity despite his aggressive lifestyle became an interesting field for researchers. Osbourne’s genome sequencing began in July 2009, and the results were made public at the TEDMED conference in October 2010, where Ozzy Osbourne was also present.
Zakk Wylde, the guitarist for Black Sabbath, had previously expressed his astonishment at Osbourne’s enduring health despite prolonged drug and alcohol abuse. He shared with Kerrang!:
“He’s got a very special kind of fortitude that’s bigger than King Kong and Godzilla combined… seriously, he’s hard as nails, man!”
However, it doesn’t imply that drug abuse left Osbourne unscathed in his personal life. He endured tremors for several years due to drug misuse, almost losing everything during his days of substance abuse.
Ozzy Osbourne Spent Most Of His Adult Years Partying
While most of his bandmates from Black Sabbath experimented with drugs in the 1970s, Ozzy Osbourne’s lifestyle was the unhealthiest of all. He attributed Mountain Band’s guitarist Leslie West to introducing him to drugs. Osbourne was arrested multiple times for public intoxication during the 1980s.
The worst incident happened in 1989 when Ozzy Osbourne attempted to strangle Sharon Osbourne in a haze of alcohol and drugs. Osbourne entered rehab and showed signs of getting things together, prompting Sharon Osbourne not to press charges against her husband. In recent years, Osbourne has managed to remain clean and speak openly about his former lifestyle.
He revealed that when he was fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, he spent three months locked in a room and engaged in drug and alcohol abuse. He shared that he would have died if his wife hadn’t helped him at that time (via Telegraph U.K.).
In 2013, Ozzy Osbourne shared on his Facebook that he had experienced a brief relapse for a year and a half before returning to the path of sobriety again. In 2021, he told Variety that he had been sober for about seven years.
