Sharon Osbourne has slammed IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, calling him a “fucking asshole” who is “jealous” of Ozzy
In a recent interview with Ozzy Osbourne, Consequence asked the singer if he felt he was underrated as a vocalist, compared to frontmen like Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and the late Ronnie James Dio.
“Bruce Dickinson is a great singer, but as a person, I’ve worked with him, and he’s not very nice,” Ozzy said. “Ronnie James Dio is no longer alive. He was a great singer. I didn’t really know him so well. I’m not one of these guys who says many things about people. The truth is the truth. I met Ronnie James Dio a couple of times. He took my [BLACK SABBATH] gig. But at the same time, I can’t complain because I did great on my own.”
Ozzy continued: “But I don’t sing for a judge. I sing for my fans. If my fans don’t buy my music, that would tell me my singing isn’t any good anymore, but they’re still buying my records. I’m my own worst critic. I don’t rate myself more than Ronnie James Dio or Bruce Dickinson. That’s not my gig. I don’t care. I have fun doing what I do. My goal is to turn my fucking audience on. And that’s what I try to do. I’m not interested if someone thinks I’m a fucking joke. That’s fine. That’s their opinion.”
Ozzy’s wife Sharon, who was also on hand, added: “Bruce Dickinson is a fucking prick. Well, no, he’s not a prick because a prick’s nice. He’s a fucking asshole. Because the situation is he was on a tour called Ozzfest. And Ozzy Osbourne was paying him every night to perform. He accepted the gig. He knew what he was doing. He accepted the gig. And every night he would go onstage and say bad things about Ozzy. And the crew and everybody in all the other bands would be like, ‘Are you letting him get away with it?’ And I’m like, ‘I sure am.’ But the last gig was [just outside of] L.A. And I thought, ‘You motherfucker, now you’re gonna get it.’ And so I had about 20 people in the audience and a lot of them were nurses from Cedars Sinai, because I had cancer at that time. And they were all my chemo nurses. And they all came down, and they fucking pelted the shit out of him. And my thing is, you play, you pay! And the thing is, if you’re being paid to do a gig, but you don’t like the person, then fuck off. But don’t stay, take the money, take all the good that’s coming to your band through being on a festival, doing 24 shows and still slagging the person that’s paying you. It’s like, ‘No, that makes you a fucking asshole.’ And he is. And he’s never apologized, he never even went up and said hello to Ozzy. The thing about him is that he is just so jealous. And always has been of Ozzy. And that’s his problem.”
Sharon continued: “Because the thing is about Bruce Dickinson, he’s hugely successful. He’s got a great fan base, a great fan base that have been loyal. The band are great guys. All the band are great. And they do great. You know, they’re a great band, you can’t take it away, and neither would I take that away from them. But the thing about Bruce is, he is unknown to the public. Bruce Dickinson could walk into anywhere and nobody would know who the fuck he is. Do you know what I’m saying? He’s a faceless singer to the general public. People aren’t scrambling to get him for an interview. And the thing is, he’s not interesting. But the thing is, Ozzy is original and Bruce isn’t and that’s what eats Bruce away.”
Dickinson and Sharon were in a verbal battle over a decade and a half ago when IRON MAIDEN was bombarded with eggs, lighters and ice during the final performance on the Ozzfest tour that year.
Sharon reportedly ordered interference with IRON MAIDEN‘s PA system, caused a delay in the stage entrance of the band’s mascot Eddie, and did her best to get the audience to throw bottles at Dickinson due to comments the MAIDEN singer apparently made about Ozzy.