In May, Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler reunited with original drummer Bill Ward for a ceremony by the RIAA for the Grammy Salute To Music Legends. The event took place on May 11 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, and one member of Sabbath was absent and that's of course, frontman Ozzy Osbourne. Many wondered if it was Ozzy's health issues at the time that prevented him from attending, but it was actually something else.
Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife and manager, spoke to Celebrity Access recently and addressed why Ozzy wasn't in attendance. She said she was "pissed off" by how she felt the Grammy Lifetime Achievement disrespected Ozzy and Sabbath's legacy.
“I was just so pissed off at the Grammys this year because they gave them a Lifetime Achievement Award, but wouldn’t give it to them on the TV show that we all know as the Grammy Awards,” said Sharon of the annual CBS-televised event. “They did it at a separate ceremony which goes out on another network later on. I wouldn’t let Ozzy go because I just thought it was shocking what they did to them. So I wouldn’t let Ozzy go.”
She continued, “They wanted to give it to them in some pissy fucking ceremony that they had. Listen there were artists there that got awards that deserved it too. But I just thought because Sabbath — their career spanned 50 years and they are still selling records today, their catalog still sells and their last record that was out six years ago was No. 1 in many countries worldwide — so the other artists they were honoring had great careers and deserved to be honored but they still didn’t have the careers that Sabbath had. So not to put them on the proper show, it was like, ‘How dare you?’ I was so angry. I just thought, ‘Fuck you. I am not going to give you the honor of having Ozzy at your shitty ceremony.’”
She spoke a bit more about Sabbath's legacy, saying “You tell me albums that were made 50 years ago that still sell. There are a handful of artists that are blessed with that. It’s an incredible feat for any artist whose album still sells 50 years later. It’s a gift. It should be celebrated.”
I don't know if Sharon actually watches the Grammys, but they don't even bother featuring any rock acts, let alone the founders of heavy metal. But I commend her for taking a stand here.
