LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Sharon Osbourne is a lady gangsta!! Don't take in the wrong way though. In his new biography, 'Into the Void', former Black Sabbath member Geezer Butler recalls an incident in which Ozzy Osbourne's wife engaged in some physical violence at one of their gigs.
The rocker, who played alongside bandmate Ozzy, writes in the tome, "Sharon was always feuding with people, and you didn't want to get on the wrong side of her, because she was very strong-willed and knew how to handle herself."
The rocker adds, "One time, she spotted an enemy at a gig, took her shoe off and started hitting him with it. The bloke, who I think was trying to sue her, was cowering on the floor, begging for mercy," as reported by OK magazine.
'She was alright, but a bit of a nutter'
Butler, who was known as the "sensible one" in the band, said that Sharon, now 70, was out of control when they first met in the 1970s. She had been seeing guitarist Tony Iommi prior to Ozzy. He recalled, "She was alright, but a bit of a nutter. She was basically one of the lads, could drink with the best of us and was often out of control. I'll always remember one night at the Rainbow, when she was so drunk that she started kicking some bloke's Rolls-Royce in. Looking back, it's not a surprise she and Ozzy ended up together," as per OK magazine.
'Few people in the music business were more ruthless than Sharon'
Butler noted that Gloria Butler, his wife and manager, was friends with Sharon and that she was "always friendly to me," adding that she is one of the reasons Ozzy has had a successful career for so long. He writes, "The music business is horrible and you have to be ruthless to thrive in it – and few people in the music business were more ruthless than Sharon."
He adds, "Without Sharon, I think Ozzy would have gone the same way as Bill (Ward, Sabbath's troubled drummer), or John Bonham or any number of other rock stars who died young."
'Sharon had always wanted to be famous'
Butler felt the entire situation was humorous until the pair also gained notoriety with their MTV program 'The Osbournes', which debuted in 2002. Butler says, "I wasn't that surprised by The Osbournes, because Sharon had always wanted to be famous. I actually thought the first season was hilarious. It showed Ozzy exactly how he was – he wasn't putting on an act," as reported by News.com.au.
Butler adds, "After the show took off, Ozzy became a household name all over the world. I'd go round to his house and there would be paparazzi everywhere. Even old women knew who Ozzy Osbourne was. It didn't bother me that Sharon became more famous than Ozzy, even." He further adds, "Before one gig in New York, there were about forty paparazzi outside the hotel and they completely ignored the four of us; they were only there to photograph Sharon. I found that hilarious," as per reports.
