In a really terrific and candid interview with Larry LeBlanc, Sharon Osbourne has revealed hubby Ozzy was the only member of Black Sabbath to skip the Grammy Lifetime Achievement concert this past May in Los Angeles.
Ozzy wasn’t alone. Julio Iglesias also didn’t show up, and it was for the same reason. In February, on the actual Grammy show, the Lifetime Achievement winners were basically ignored. They had to pay their own expenses, got no attention Grammy weekend, and were allowed to wave from the audience on the Grammy broadcast.
In exchange, there was the taping of the PBS broadcast in May, which will air sometime this fall (no one knows when). Many showed up and performed including Sam Moore, Valerie Simpson, and Dionne Warwick. But there was no reception, no red carpet, no dinner after the show.
The other members of Black Sabbath showed up, but Ozzy and Sharon skipped the proceedings entirely– and it was just at Hollywood and Highland, a stone’s throw from their house.
Here’s what Sharon told Larry:
“…they wanted to give it (the Lifetime Achievement award) to them in some pissy fucking ceremony that they had. Listen there were artists there (George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Sam and Dave, Dionne Warwick, Julio Iglesias* Donny Hathaway*, and Billy Eckstine*) 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 6 years ago was #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 (TV) 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.”
Fans of “The Talk” know that Sharon tells like it is. The Grammys have a funny relationship to older artists. Now I’m hearing talk of potential Album of the Year nominees, as the Grammy deadline is drawing closer (September 30th). I’m not seeing Bruce Springsteen’s “Western Stars,” which means they’re thinking of sticking him in Best Pop, or Traditional, instead of in the main album category where he belongs. “Western Stars” should be Album of the Year, period.
(*) asterisk for people who didn’t show because they didn’t want to (Julio) or sent family members because they are in heaven (Hathaway, Eckstine).
