In addition to being one of the biggest stars in the history of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne was a father to six children.
The world is very familiar with his two youngest, Kelly and Jack, via their starring roles on the ultra-popular reality show The Osbournes and subsequent ventures into TV later in their adult lives.
The other four have chosen to live more private lives, but their father shared warm, funny and sometimes regretful memories about all six in his 2009 book I Am Ozzy.
Here’s a look at how each of them came into Osbourne’s life and the important lessons he learned and memorable experiences he had while being their father.
Jessica Osbourne
Born: Jan. 20, 1972. Measured against Osbourne’s career, that’s roughly five months after the release of Black Sabbath’s third album, August 1971’s Master of Reality and eight months before September 1972’s Vol. 4.
Osbourne shares the harrowing story of his first daughter’s birth in his 2009 autobiography I Am Ozzy, as he was forced to drive his first wife, Thelma Riley, to the hospital despite 1) being drunk, 2) not having an driver’s license and 3) not having any idea how to drive.
“It’s a miracle I didn’t crash into the back of an ambulance, to be honest with you,” he recalled. “But somehow I managed to get the wheels to stop moving and then get Thelma out of her seat and into the maternity ward.”
He goes on to explain the he chose his Jessica’s middle name, Starshine, because it was a cold, clear winter night and he could see “gleaming constellations in every direction” from their hospital room window.
Jessica has lived a largely private life, although she made a brief appearance via phone on the second season of The Osbournes reality show, to inform her father that he was a grandfather for the first time.
Elliot Kingsley
Born: 1966. That’s about four years before the release of Black Sabbath’s February 1970 self-titled debut album.
When Osbourne met Riley in 1971, she already had a five-year old child, Elliot Kingsley, from a previous relationship. After the couple got married, Osbourne adopted Elliot, although he confesses he was far from the best father.
“He was a good kid, but for some reason we never got on,” Osbourne explains in his book. “I spent the whole time when I was home screaming at him or whacking him around the ear ‘ole. I wish it could have been better with him, because it’s not like he ever did anything band to deserve it. …To tell the truth, I must have been a horrendous stepdad.
Like his step-sister Jessica, Kingsley has kept a low public profile, working as a theater actor and never appearing or being mentioned on The Osbournes television show.
Louis Osbourne
Born: 1975. The same year Black Sabbath released their sixth album, Sabotage.
In 1975 Osbourne and his first wife Thelma welcomed their third child, a son named Louis, despite the fact that they were having serious relationship troubles. “Thelma really suffered with me and I really regret that,” Osbourne admits in I Am Ozzy. “If there’s one thing I wish for in my life, it’s that I could take it all back.”
Happily, in 2009 Osbourne reported that his relationship with both Louis and Jessica improved greatly after he quit drinking. “I see Jess and Louis all the time now, too. They both got Thelma’s brains: Jess is a surveyor and Louis got a law degree. Between them, they’ve given me four grandchildren, which is a crazy thought.”
Louis was in attendance at his father’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert. “I was sobbing at times,” he later wrote on social media. “It was everything we wanted it to be and more.”
He also stood alongside his siblings during Osbourne’s funeral procession.
Louis, Ozzy and Jessica Osbourne, 1978
Mirrorpix, Getty Images
Aimee Osbourne
Born: Sept. 2, 1983. That’s about a year and half after her father got into big trouble at the Alamo and two months before he released his first post-Randy Rhoads solo album, Bark at the Moon.
Osbourne and Riley divorced in 1982. Osbourne soon married Sharon Levy, the manager of Black Sabbath’s manager Don Arden. She would wind up becoming Ozzy’s personal manager after his departure from the group, helping him become one of the biggest solo stars in rock history.
The couple had their first daughter about a year later, after Sharon made Osbourne promise to quit cocaine and get rid of his large collection of guns.
“[Aimee] was a guiding light for us, she really was,” Osbourne declared in his book. “It had been just over a year since Randy and Rachel [Youngblood] had died, and we were only just starting to get over it. “With Aimee, we had a brand new reason to feel good about life.”
Unlike her younger siblings, Aimee wanted no part of life as a reality television star and moved out of the family’s home at age 16 instead of appearing on The Osbournes. “She hated the idea,” Sharon later told People. “It was appalling to her.”
Aimee has remained determined to forge her own path in the music industry, singing as ARO.
Kelly Osbourne
Born: Oct. 27, 1984. In other words, nearly a year after Bark at the Moon and about 15 months prior to the release of 1986’s The Ultimate Sin.
Ozzy Osbourne said he knew his youngest daughter would be a spitfire the moment she was born.” Kelly came out into the world, screaming — and she hasn’t stopped since, bless her. She’s a real chip off the old block,” he notes in I Am Ozzy. “I think that’s why I’ve always felt so protective of her.”
Kelly’s brassy personality on The Osbournes made her a breakout star on the show, which she briefly parlayed into a recording career before shifting to television hosting. She had her first child in 2022 (Sidney), with then-boyfriend Sid Wilson of Slipknot.
Her father stole the spotlight when Wilson proposed to Kelly backstage at the Back to the Beginning concert, humorously (and fatuously) declaring, “Fuck off, you’re not marrying my daughter!”
Jack Osbourne
Born: Nov. 8, 1985. That’s two months before the release of The Ultimate Sin.
The birth of Ozzy’s sixth child and third in in three years added some unexpected challenges to the singer’s touring life. “For a few years I spent most of my time in a panic trying to find Jack’s comfort blanket, which was this little yellow teddy bear thing called Baby,” Osbourne recalls in his book.
“Jack would go fucking insane if he didn’t have Baby to cuddle and chew on. But we were traveling so much, Baby would get left behind. I became obsessed with that fucking bear. I’d come offstage and the first thing I’d say was, “Where’s Baby? Has anyone seen Baby? Make sure we don’t lose Baby!”
The elder Osbourne has frequently credited his youngest son with finally helping him get sober after decades of addiction struggles. “I had a row with Jack,” he told Variety in 2021. “I had to talk business. And I said, ‘What have you ever fucking wanted? I’ll give you whatever you want.’ He says, ‘What about a father?’ That kicked me in the balls so hard. It knocked me sideways.”
Like Kelly, Jack has parlayed his Osbournes fame into a successful TV hosting career, most recently with the show The Osbournes Want to Believe, in which he gets his parents’ takes on famous reports of paranormal activity.
In 2012 the youngest Osbourne revealed he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but thanks to a careful blend of medication, diet, exercise and stress reduction he has managed to avoid severe symptoms so far.
He is the father of four children, the most recent born to his second wife, Aree Gearheart, in 2022.
Photos of Ozzy Osbourne’s Family Through the Years
To celebrate the life and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne, here are photos of the rocker’s family from the late ’70s through 2024.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
