Ozzy Osbourne's memoir lands on New York Times best-seller list
Ozzy Osbourne's long-awaited memoir, "I Am Ozzy", has landed at position No. 2 on The New York Times "hardcover nonfiction" best-seller list.The book, which was originally slated to arrive almost two years ago but was delayed twice, was released in the U.S. on January 25 via Sphere Publishers (the book was published in the U.K. on October 1, 2009).
"I Am Ozzy" chronicles the star's humble beginnings in the U.K. to his current position as international music and Tv celebrity.
In a statement, he revealed what fans can expect from the bio, explaining: "They've said some crazy things about me over the years. I mean, okay: 'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes. 'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes. But then you hear things like, 'Ozzy went to the show last night, but he wouldn't perform until he'd killed fifteen puppies?' Now me, kill fifteen puppies? I love puppies. I've got eighteen of the fucking things at home. I've killed a few cows in my time, mind you. And the chickens. I shot the chickens in my house that night.
"It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty fucking years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at fucking two miles per hour.
"People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of 60, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no fucking way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.
"A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."
Publisher Antonia Hodgson called the book "fantastic," adding that it was "very much in the tone of his voice, very funny and a very full story."
Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, published her own best-selling memoir in 2005, called "Extreme: My Autobiography". A second volume was rushed out in 2008 after Ozzy's book was delayed.
Ozzy's next album, his first since 2007's "Black Rain", is tentatively slated to come out in July and will feature songs such as "Let It Die", "Diggin' Me Down" and "Soul Sucka". The record will be the first to feature Ozzy's new guitarist, Greek native Gus G., who replaced longtime axeman Zakk Wylde in Ozzy's band last year.
"Black Rain" was Ozzy's first all-new solo effort in six years and debuted on the Billboard album chart at No. 3.
