Metal first couple the Osbournes to split: Reports

Metal first couple the Osbournes to split: Reports

LOS ANGELES – Agence France-Presse
Metal first couple the Osbournes to split: Reports

AFP photo

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne, one of the enduring couples in the hard-living world of heavy metal, have split, reports said May 8.

Celebrity news outlets E! News and Entertainment Tonight quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Osbournes were ending their marriage of more than 33 years.

However, People magazine reported that, while the 67-year-old singer was moving out of their Los Angeles-area mansion, the separation may be temporary.

People said that the split was linked to Sharon’s suspicions he was having an affair. All three news outlets said that Ozzy, long notorious for his drug and alcohol use, had not had a relapse from his recent sobriety.

Sharon, 63, met Osbourne when her father was managing Black Sabbath, Ozzy’s original band that emerged from Birmingham, England and helped define heavy metal with thunderous blues-influenced guitar and a lyrical fascination with the occult.

Sharon not only married Ozzy but took charge of his solo career, recruiting a string of talented guitarists and songwriters who kept him at the forefront of metal - and controversy - for years.

She proved so successful that she branched out and became a manager for other hard rock acts.

Sharon stepped out of the shadows in the early 2000s when her life with Ozzy and two of their three children was turned into an MTV reality television show, “The Osbournes.”