Just So Stories

Hachette

Imprint: Sphere

Oct 7, 2025 | 9781408724064 | RRP $34.99

Of course, he’s not really Halloween at all, but for someone known as The Prince of Darkness and famed for his outrageousness, wildness and powerful lyrics, it seems appropriate to put this review into this week’s collection.

I’m saying it openly. I’m not a metal fan – never have been, never will be. But I have been an Ozzy fan for quite a long time. Yes, I did watch The Osbournes (hilarious mostly, sometimes disturbing) but what I did know of Ozzy, and read or heard, always struck me that he was essentially himself authentically. No pretence, no BS, no dulling his spark for others, no negating his working class roots, and no bowing to public disapproval – and, crazy as the TV show could get, a man who very obviously deeply loved his family, his friends and his fans.

And this memoir [NB I’ve not read any of his other books] confirms all that for me and reveals so much more. Reading this last book with its details of many escapades, near-misses, hilarious or shattering events, and a litany of ill-health, surgeries, and debilitating conditions, it became apparent to me that this Brummie boy was both resilient and tough as well as, in his later years, both philosophical and phlegmatic.

The hellraising addict of former years with those raging, controlling appetites of self destruction were finally calmed – some due to a growing sense of his own mortality, some enforced by his many health issues. I guess because I’ve witnessed on the most personal of levels how addiction can rob us of our loved ones, it was this aspect that not only resonated for me, but really gave me pause for thought, and certainly some tears.

On a lighter note, as Ozzy works his way through memories, many of them including other famous artists, there were moments I just laughed out loud, and wondered what it is with some e.g. Keith Richards and Iggy Pop that seems to have given them a charmed life to survive SO much.

Ozzy’s death earlier this year was a blow for not just his family and friends, but a global base of fans who have known him from the start and stayed loyal to him, unwaveringly throughout the many years, as well as those new generations who have jumped on board the Ozzy train.

And it was certainly a mark of how much his birth city of Birmingham revered its most famous son with the moving live stream of his funeral cortege, especially coming after the installation of Ozzy the Bull sculpture following the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

This was a great read, though at times confronting given our own situation and knowing the end result of my girl’s addictions. It gave me pleasure not only to read some of Ozzy’s story, but to pay tribute, in my own small way to a larger-than-life artist who made such an impact on contemporary music and artists.

I know he’d have loved all the memes that circulated – especially the funny ones. It has to be a 5 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇rating – of course it’s intended for adult readers – but if I had mature senior students, I’d let them read it – they already know all the profanity and other references!