The Irish producer of The Osbournes Hit TV series has paid tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, describing him as a “down to earth man who loved the Irish.”
The heavy metal pioneer died on Tuesday at the age of 76, just weeks after performing with Black Sabbath at a farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham.
A statement from the family said: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Dubliner Marcus Fox won an Emmy for The Osbournes, which ran for three years on MTV from 2002 to 2005 and became the highest-rated show on American TV at the time.
He formed a close relationship with the family during that time and said Ozzy had a “particular fondness for the Irish.”
“He was a very simple man, a really kind person. I was very sorry to hear he passed on,” said Mr. Fox.
“He had a soft spot for the Irish; he loved to hang out with us in the shed at the back of his house.
“He had so much time for the Irish. There were four Irish lads working on the show, and he got on well with all of us.
“It seems to me Ozzy held on to do his farewell gig, and he meant it.
“He was very nice to the crew, very easy to work with, easy going, not easy to direct or produce, but easy going.
“Sharon, his wife, is the boss. She was very caring and protective of Ozzy, and family was family. She accepted his children from his first marriage into the family; she was very welcoming.”
Ozzy’s daughter, Kelly Osbourne, this week said she has lost her “best friend” following the death of her father.
She had attended his last concert, where she got engaged backstage to her long-term partner, Sid Wilson from the band Slipknot.
Marcus Fox, who was living in the US at the time and had been working on the Anna Nicole Smith reality show, pitched the idea of a reality TV show to the Osbourne family through their agents.
“Sharon was very interested in Anna Nicole Smith,” said Marcus.
“She had this idea of interviewing her in a big bubble bath, but one show was on the channel E, and the Osbournes was on MTV, and we would have loved to work with the two, but the networks wouldn’t agree, so that never happened. They would do it in a heartbeat now.
“We went to the Osbournes with the idea of a reality show, and they were interested.
“We met the family, then we did a pilot and then went on to make the show.
“It was the early 2000s, but we got three seasons out of it, and then we did a couple of specials. We talked a few times about going back to another season, but it never happened.
“After that, I did another show, Battle for Ozzfest,” said Mr. Fox.
Ozzfest was also a reality show aired on MTV in 2004. It saw eight bands “battling” it out in a series of challenges to win a spot on the stage at the heavy metal festival, Ozzfest.
Fox said he stayed in touch with the Osbournes and described Sharon and Ozzy as a “couple very much in love.”
“I know they had tough times,” he said. “He met her through her father; he was on her dad’s label. She went on to become his manager, and they were just madly in love.”
The couple made no secret of their challenges. They were married for four decades, and during that time, Ozzy battled alcohol and drug addiction and became violent toward Sharon, before he was arrested for attempted murder.
“She stuck with him,” said Mr. Fox. “Love prevails, and they were like two teenagers together; they were really in love.”
He said Ozzy spent most of his days painting and lived a very simple life.
“We had 24-hour coverage, with two shifts for the crew, night and day. You had to be prepared because the kids were only teenagers at the time, and they would often come in from a night out, and you didn’t want to miss that.
“Their house was really nice, but it wasn’t a mansion or anything like that. It was a five-bedroom house in Beverly Hills, and we were there all the time.
“They have since moved away.”
He said that Ozzy had crucifixes all over the house, and they were used as “doorknobs and handles.”
“They were all around the bath and toilet, too,” he said. “I don’t know if he was religious, maybe it was beat into him growing up.
“I never went to church with him, but he did not have a lavish lifestyle. He had very simple needs and means, he didn’t buy into all that.
“His son Louis, who didn’t want to appear on the show, used to hang around with us, and he would go out with us for drinks. We introduced him to a girl on the crew called Lisa who was from Dublin, and they fell in love and got married.
“They are living in the UK now but were living in Ireland for years.
“Louis and his sister have a different mom to Sharon, but that didn’t matter to Sharon, she was very open.”
Marcus said he hopes to attend Ozzy’s funeral to pay his respects.
“I would like to go. There hasn’t been a memorial for him yet. The family is just in bits now over him. They all adored him”.
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