WANDERING the grounds of his Buckinghamshire mansion, Ozzy Osbourne turned to his friend Dave Hogan and said: “Do you know what? I’d forgotten we even had this house.”
It was 2006, and the Black Sabbath frontman and his wife Sharon had spent so much time filming MTV reality show The Osbournes in LA, they hadn’t returned to the estate in Little Chalfont for several years.
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Today, their pal — legendary Sun photographer Dave — reveals how Ozzy, who died on Tuesday aged 76, was one of the most down-to-earth, funny and welcoming celebrities he ever met in his long career.
The snapper, affectionately known in the showbiz world as Hogie, recalls: “That day, he really did make me laugh.
“I was taking his picture for The Sun, but he didn’t want the house shown as they’d been burgled there so didn’t want to feature the actual property.
“Instead, we went into the grounds. He suddenly stopped, looked around and said how he’d forgotten they even owned it.
“It was the kind of thing he would just come out with.” Dave added of Ozzy, who revealed in 2020 that he had Parkinson’s disease “He was great company, a lovely man.
“There was no filter, he was just honest. He spoke what he thought and that was it.”
Ozzy’s family announced the heavy metal legend had died “surrounded by love” at the Grade II listed mansion in Welders, Bucks, that they bought in 1993.
Recently, the Osbournes built a “rehab” wing on the sprawling estate, which included a health and welfare exercise studio, art studio room, pool house and spa.
Hogie first met Ozzy — known as the Prince of Darkness — in Los Angeles in 1988.
But when he arrived at the family’s American mansion, he was stunned to find the star had chopped off his trademark, long, flowing locks.
Describing his first encounter with the Black Sabbath icon, Hogie says: “Obviously they were a huge band, but as heavy metal wasn’t huge for The Sun, I didn’t photograph him until the late Eighties.
“When he opened the door and had cut all his hair off, I was a bit shocked. But the pictures were great, he was amazing on camera, he knew how to perform.”
Sharon was there too, together with Kelly, now 40, and Jack, 39, who were toddlers at the time.
Hogie says: “They were very welcoming and the kids were really cute.
“We started to chat but, after a little while, Sharon said that they had to go and pick their older daughter Aimee up from nursery.
“The housekeeper was there, but they asked me to help keep an eye on the kids while they went to collect her.
‘He kept pouring beer’
“They were just a normal, down-to-earth couple.”
Hogie says that over the years, that never changed — but the dynamic did.
He explains: “I remember flying over to LA to do a shoot with them and the focus for the pictures then was Sharon. But Ozzy didn’t care.
“In fact he loved it. It was like he was her sidekick, her butler; whatever he was, they were a team.
“And within minutes of me being there, he said, ‘Dave, do you want a drink?’.
“I knew he was a reformed alcoholic, so I thought it was a bit odd, but Sharon said, ‘Just let him pour you a drink, he likes to pour drinks for other people’. It was about 10am and the last thing I wanted was a beer, but I said yes.
“And he opened a can and poured me this perfect pint. I couldn’t drink it as I wouldn’t have been able to do my job properly.
“But that didn’t stop Ozzy. He kept pouring drinks of beer. They were all over the kitchen. He was the perfect host. Some people are not so welcoming, but he was amazing. He made you feel at home.”
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Ozzy’s issues with alcoholism and drug addiction began in the 1970s and got him booted from Black Sabbath in 1979.
But he grew serious about his sobriety around 2014, after numerous failed attempts at rehab and recovery dating back to 1984.
In a recent interview, he told The Sun that he once downed 28 gallons of booze to get through the Christmas season.
Hogie says: “I never saw him drinking. But even though he had stopped all of that, he was still up for a great time.
“I remember, after one MTV Awards, he got a group of people together to carry on partying.
Imagine what a night out with Ozzy would have been like.
Dave Hogan
“There was him and Grace Jones and a few others. Sharon said to me, ‘I’m going home, I’ve given him £500 to go out. You go with him, you’ll have a great time’.
“But I couldn’t. I had to send the photos in from the night.
“But it is a regret — imagine what a night out with Ozzy would have been like.”
Hogie pictured the rock ‘n’ roll legend when he was on stage, too, and says he was a “born performer”, adding: “He was just great to watch, he would really come alive. I loved photographing him backstage, too.
“After he’d knocked all the drink and drugs on its head, he would be going for it with weights and sitting on his exercise bike.
“It really was a case of, ‘Well done, mate,’ to be able to change the way he did and try to focus on fitness instead of booze and drugs.
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“Despite how famous and successful he was, he was never flash.”
Ozzy died just weeks after a farewell show at which he reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates on stage at Villa Park.
Performing atop a throne, he told 42,000 adoring fans: “You’ve no idea how I feel — thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Some of his favourite acts also played, including Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.
Ozzy and his fellow original Black Sabbath members — Tony Iommi, Terence “Geezer” Butler and Bill Ward — had reunited for the first time in 20 years.
Hogie says: “What a legacy. And Sharon helped organise it, too.
“They were a wonderful couple. Ozzy was always there for his wife and she is going to miss him.
“There are not many people like Ozzy left in this world. A true legend. He is one of the greats.
“One of the people you remember where you were when he died. I’m proud I could call him a friend.”
