Ozzy Osbourne Says He Wants to “Stay” in America

The Prince of Darkness wants to stay in the United States, according to a new interview.

“If I had my way, I’d stay,” Osbourne told Consequence in the outlet’s recent cover story. “To be honest with you,” the lead singer continued, “I don’t want to go back [to England]. Fuck that.”

Ozzy, who recently released a new solo album, Patient Number 9, and his wife Sharon Osbourne, live in Los Angeles and have for decades but the couple is moving back to England, they recently announced.

Their move will also be the focus of a new BBC reality series, Home to Roost, which is set to premiere next year. In the end, though, Ozzy doesn’t want to go.

“I’m getting a bit of flak from people,” Ozzy told Consequence of the move. “To be honest with you, if I had my way, I’d stay in America. I’m American now.”

He says his wife’s departure from the daytime television show, The Talk, was the kicker.

“When my wife got called a racist on [The Talk], she is absolutely not a racist,” Ozzy said. “Her friend is Piers Morgan [who made disparaging comments about Meghan Markle]. She didn’t say, ‘I agree with him.’ She just respected his ability to have freedom of speech. That’s all that she said. And she got a lot of flak from that, so we actually had to have fucking armed guards and all that.”

Sharon said crime is largely to blame.

“California is not what it once was. When I first came here, I thought I was in heaven. In the ’70s, if you loved music, this was the place to be. It’s not that hub anymore. It’s not exciting anymore. It hasn’t gone sideways, it’s gone down. It’s not a fun place to live. It’s dangerous here. Every big city’s got crime, but I don’t feel safe here. Neither does Ozzy.”

Ozzy talked about the paradox of making a new reality show. He said, “My son says to me one day—this is when he was a lot younger—‘Dad, can I ask you a question?’ I said, ‘Yeah, what is it?’ He says, ‘With this TV show we’re doing, do you love people laughing with you or at you?’ And I say, ‘You know what, as long as they’re fucking laughing, I don’t give a shit.’ People said to me, ‘You come off as being a jerk’ but it’s entertainment. We’re in the game of making people laugh or happy. It’s the entertainment game. But it was a hit.”

Photo: SRO PR