Sharon Osbourne

She married singer Ozzy Osbourne in 1982. Their marriage was troubled from the very beginning, marked by alcoholism, drug abuse and violence. In spite of their tumultuous married life, the couple has remained together all through the years. They have three children.

She once suffered from colon cancer, and has since successfully recovered. She founded the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai Hospital in 2004.

She was born as the daughter of music promoter and manager Don Arden and his wife Hope Shaw. Her father was a very violent person and she endured a difficult childhood. Her mother had become cold and indifferent following a car accident.

Her father managed some of the biggest musical acts like Little Richard, Queen, and Small Faces. Even though he earned good money he was poor at money management and thus the family often lived in poverty.

In order to escape her troubled life Sharon drank to the excess and was becoming a violent person herself.

She met Ozzy Osbourne when her father used to manage his group, Black Sabbath. Ozzy was fired by her father in 1979 after an episode of substance abuse. Sharon took him as her client and began managing his career. This infuriated her father and the two were estranged for years.

The relationship between Sharon and Ozzy was troubled, marked by alcohol induced violence. Nonetheless they made a successful business team and she helped to launch his solo career.

After Ozzy was kicked out of his band, she helped him to recruit a talented backing band comprising of Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake with whom he would release his solo album. Ozzy’s solo album, ‘The Blizzard of Ozz’ was out in 1980 and was a huge hit.

She managed her husband’s successful career throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Along with Ozzy she founded the Ozzfest which is an annual festival tour of the United States and other countries featuring performances by several heavy metal and hard rock bands.

She set up her own talent management company, Sharon Osbourne Management. Through this she guides the careers of her husband, children and also of several other acts like The Smashing Pumpkins, Coal Chamber, Queen, Gary Moore, etc.

Starting out as the wife and manager of the singer Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon became a businesswoman in her won right by forming the talent management company, Sharon Osbourne Management which has managed the careers of not just her husband and children, but also of others like Queen, ELO and Gary Moore.