Background and career
Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is an English and American television personality, businesswoman and author. She came to prominence while appearing on The Osbournes (2002–2005), a reality television show that aired on MTV, which followed her family's daily life. Osbourne later became a judge on television talent competition shows, including The X Factor (2004–2007, 2013, 2016–2017) and America's Got Talent (2007–2012). Osbourne was married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne from 1982 until his death in 2025. She is credited with reviving her husband's heavy metal career by founding the summer Ozzfest tour, which was held almost annually between 1996 and 2018. In light of her success managing her husband, she branched out into managing other acts, such as Gary Moore, Motörhead, Lita Ford, The Quireboys and The Smashing Pumpkins, through her company Sharon Osbourne Management. From 2003 to 2004, Osbourne hosted her own television talk show The Sharon Osbourne Show, which was syndicated to various American channels and also shown in the UK on Sky One. In 2010, she was a contestant on the NBC reality show The Celebrity Apprentice, and became a co-host on the CBS talk show The Talk, hosting until her termination in 2021. In 2022, she joined TalkTV, hosting a prime time show also titled The Talk. In 2024, she appeared as a celebrity lodger on the twenty-third series of the ITV reality show Celebrity Big Brother. As an author, Osbourne has released three autobiographies and two novels.
Sharon Rachel Levy was born on 9 October 1952 in London, United Kingdom, the daughter of music promoter and rock and roll entrepreneur Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 1926–2007) and his wife, Hope (née Shaw; 1916–1999). She has a brother, David. Her mother was of Irish descent and her father was Ashkenazi Jewish. Osbourne revealed she was surrounded by violence during her childhood and that it was a normal occurrence to see her father threatening someone, or brandishing a firearm. Her father managed Black Sabbath and fired Ozzy Osbourne from the group. Subsequently, she began dating Ozzy in 1979, and eventually took over his management from the Arden organisation. She coordinated the recruitment of a backing band (Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake) for the recording of the Blizzard of Ozz album and helped Ozzy launch what became a successful solo career. Arden resented his daughter for dating Ozzy and for managing his career. In her memoir, Osbourne relates that her father had robbed her, once tried to kill her, and once told Ozzy that she had tried to seduce him, to turn Ozzy against her. She soon lost contact with her father and did not speak to him for 20 years. In an interview in 2001, she commented that her father has never seen her children and that "he never will". Osbourne had told her children that their grandfather was dead but they unknowingly saw him for the first time when Osbourne was shouting abuse at him on a street in Los Angeles. When asked who she was shouting at, she replied Tony Curtis. They were reunited in 2001 and he then had a role in their reality show, The Osbournes. In August 2004, Osbourne stated her father had Alzheimer's disease and she paid for his care in the last years of his life. Osbourne's relationship with her mother was also damaged. At the age of 17, Osbourne lost her virginity and realised two months later that she was pregnant. By her account, pressure from others, principally her mother, influenced her decision to have an abortion, which Osbourne has described as the biggest mistake in her life. While visiting her parents on a later occasion, her mother's dogs attacked her and it was some time before her mother appeared to call them off. She was pregnant at the time and subsequently lost the baby. According to a 2009 article in The Guardian, Hope Arden was a cold woman who became even stranger after a serious car accident, something which Osbourne said "unhinged her". When Osbourne was informed of her mother's death, she said "Oh, what a shame" and simply put the phone down.
A series of high-selling albums and world tours followed through the 1980s, eventually bringing about Ozzy's popularity. In 1996, Osbourne created the Ozzfest summer touring festival. It went on to become a regular rock occasion and celebrated a 10th anniversary in 2006. By 2007, the ticket prices had reached £76 and Osbourne announced that the tickets would be free to allow more people the opportunity to attend the concert. Prior to the founding of Ozzfest, Osbourne approached Lollapalooza, another rock/pop festival, to request that Ozzy play at that year's festival, only to be rejected and told that Ozzy was "uncool" and too drugged up. It was then that she decided to launch her own festival. Controversy ensued when she pulled the plug on Iron Maiden's set three times in one performance. She also harassed the singer Bruce Dickinson, and threw eggs at the band.
In light of her success managing her husband, Osbourne branched out into managing other acts by creating Sharon Osbourne Management. The new company, with Osbourne as its sole employee, managed artists such as Gary Moore, Motörhead, Lita Ford, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Quireboys and Coal Chamber. She co-managed a band called Cube, with Cud guitarist Mike Dunphy. Cube were signed to Polydor Records but had limited success. She has also turned down career guidance requests from Fred Durst, Guns N' Roses, and Courtney Love.
Osbourne gained celebrity status as one of the stars of MTV's reality show, The Osbournes, which followed her family's daily life and had a national audience. As the person who negotiated with MTV to screen the show, she is often credited with bringing about her husband's emergence from heavy metal icon into mainstream celebrity. The show began airing in early 2002, and when, in July 2002, Osbourne was diagnosed with cancer, she insisted that filming should continue. The final episode of the show aired in the US on 21 March 2005. MTV's British affiliate has been airing the show since 2003. The show brought MTV its highest ratings ever in both America and Britain. The Osbournes' Beverly Hills home (made famous on the show) has since been sold and the Osbournes have taken up residence in another home in Beverly Hills. Her Beverly Hills home was later seen in The X Factor during series two. The show saw that Osbourne was responsible for the livelihood of 12 dogs and employs a dog walker named Cherie. From the mid-1990s until the end of The Osbournes in 2005, she was primarily based in Los Angeles with the rest of her family. Osbourne earned an estimated £11.5 million from The Osbournes. In 2009, she was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television for the time period 2002–2005. In 2003, Osbourne became the host of her own television talk show, The Sharon Osbourne Show, which was syndicated to various US channels and also shown in the UK on Sky One. The show was meant to be a reflection of her personality and home life, similar to her reality show but with the inclusion of guest interviews and performances. During the episodes, she conducted some of her interviews on a giant bed. However, the ratings were never successful and critics panned her inability to perform the basic tasks required of a talk show host, such as reading cue cards and conducting interviews. The show was cancelled in early 2004 after one season. In 2006, UK TV network ITV commissioned a new chat show, initially to be called Mrs Osbourne Presents, but eventually just named The Sharon Osbourne Show. Osbourne signed a deal with ITV for a reputed £2 million. The show began on Tuesday 29 August 2006, and was scheduled to run for six weeks in the 5 pm weekday timeslot. The premiere episode proved a close competition as the show received 1.9 million viewers with 17% share – 400,000 viewers (and 3% share) ahead of Richard & Judy on Channel 4. Her second show attracted 2.1 million viewers. However, ratings appeared to decrease after Channel 4 moved its game show Deal Or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds, into the timeslot, with Osbourne managing 1.2 million viewers compared to Deal Or No Deal's 2.9m. Channel 4's The New Paul O'Grady Show returned on Monday 25 September 2006 with 2.3 million viewers compared to Osbourne's 1.6 million. Osbourne was a judge and mentor on the UK's The X Factor every year, from 2004 through to 2007. In the first series she mentored the 16–24s and chose Roberta Howett, Cassie Compton and Tabby Callaghan to represent her in the live rounds of the show. The best placed of these was Tabby, who became the last contestant eliminated. The final was contested between Simon Cowell's act Steve Brookstein and Louis Walsh's act G4, with Steve winning. Osbourne's outburst against Steve on the night of the final is widely credited with helping him to win, although according to her autobiography he was well ahead at all stages of the voting. In the second series she mentored the 25-and-overs, and selected Andy Abraham, Brenda Edwards, Chico Slimani and Maria Lawson to contest the final rounds. Andy Abraham finished in second place to Louis Walsh's act Shayne Ward. During this series, the judges were again required to bring the selected candidates to their homes. Osbourne chose her Beverly Hills home as a suitable location, which saw Osbourne inviting her neighbours and husband Ozzy Osbourne to attend live performances by the candidates. During Chico's performance, he jumped into her functioning fountain with a live microphone and proceeded to splash water. Osbourne also appeared in the spin-off show The X Factor: Battle of the Stars. She was not required to choose her celebrity singing contestants but was selected to manage the 16–24s which were made up of Nikki Sanderson, Matt Stevens and Michelle Marsh. In the third series of The X Factor in 2006, she was mentoring the 25-and-overs, and selected Ben Mills, Dionne Mitchell, Robert Allen and Kerry McGregor. Kerry and Dionne were voted out in a double elimination on 28 October, Robert was voted out on 18 November and Ben was voted out on 9 December, sending Osbourne out of the competition. During the filming of the third series, Osbourne lived at the Dorchester Hotel in central London. Osbourne was criticised for her outbursts on the show, where before a live show in series three she reportedly spoke out against Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? presenter Chris Tarrant, who was in the show's audience prior to filming. Tarrant had made a joke about her husband Ozzy to which Osbourne took offence, but most of her outburst focused on criticising Tarrant's recent infidelity to his wife Ingrid from whom he was in the process of separating. It was rumoured that Cowell, fellow judge and creator of the show, was displeased with her performance in series three, and was thinking of replacing her and Walsh for the next series. However, it was confirmed that Osbourne had been contracted to return for the fourth series of the show. She then appeared in the fourth series along with judges Cowell, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue, and mentored the Girls category during the series. During the first live show, aired on 20 October 2007, Osbourne walked out on the panel after learning of two of her own contestants, Kimberley Southwick and Alisha Bennett, being in the bottom two. However, on The Paul O'Grady Show, aired on 23 October 2007, Osbourne confirmed she would return on the next episode and stated that it is part of her personality to say things in the heat of the moment and not to contrive anything that she says. Two weeks into the live shows, a number of happy slapping videos of Emily Nakanda, the only other contestant in Osbourne's category, appeared in the media, apparently showing her beating another teenaged girl. The resulting backlash resulted in Nakanda withdrawing from the show. On 17 November, Bennett was voted out of the competition, leaving Osbourne with no acts halfway through the series.
Osbourne joined the judging panel on the second season of America's Got Talent, along with Piers Morgan and David Hasselhoff, replacing Brandy Norwood. Osbourne later worked on the show with Howie Mandel and Howard Stern as judges and Nick Cannon as host. The season premiered in the United States on 5 June 2007. In her first episode, Osbourne came into a conflict with Piers Morgan when she felt he judged a child contestant too harshly. She threatened to leave the show in the middle of filming, saying "I didn't sign up for this", but was talked out of it. The incident was shown on air. Osbourne has since stayed with the show for its third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. The new season was announced in a promotional video shown during a commercial break for season seven's second live show. Osbourne initially stated that she will not return for the season, but later said that she was staying with the show "for now". Following this, she announced she was quitting after a dispute with NBC and the producers of Stars Earn Stripes involving what she believed was disability discrimination against her son Jack. On 6 June 2008, it was announced in a statement on behalf of Osbourne that she has decided to step down as an X Factor judge after four series on the show. The statement read "Sharon would like to thank the wonderful British public for their enormous support during what's been an exciting ride. She would also like to take this opportunity to thank Simon Cowell and ITV while wishing them all the best for the next series." A spokesman from ITV commented "She has been a tremendous judge and mentor on the programme, but we respect her wish to leave and wish her the very best." Osbourne was replaced by Cheryl Cole. During an interview on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, broadcast on 22 February 2009, Osbourne admitted that the reason for her departure from The X Factor was her fractured relationship with Minogue. She stated "I didn't enjoy working with her at all and didn't fancy the prospect of spending six months sitting next to her." Osbourne hosted the second season of Rock of Love: Charm School with co-hosts Riki Rachtman and Daniella Clarke on VH1. Osbourne had a physical altercation on 13 December 2008 with contestant Megan Hauserman on the reunion special for the show after Hauserman made derogatory statements about Osbourne's husband, Ozzy. Hauserman reportedly filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department and has since filed a lawsuit against Osbourne, claiming battery, negligence and infliction of emotional distress. In 2011, Osbourne reached a settlement with Hauserman. In July 2008, Fox announced that the Osbourne family would be hosting a new variety show titled Osbournes: Reloaded (working title was Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous). The show started filming at CBS Studios in Hollywood in December 2008 before a live audience. The show premiered in March 2009. Fremantle Media North America is producing the show. The show was cancelled after its premiere episode. In March 2010, Osbourne appeared on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice, coming in third place. From its inception on 18 October 2010 until her departure in 2021, Osbourne co-hosted the CBS talk show The Talk. This decision came after CBS cancelled the soap opera As the World Turns. The show is similar to The View and seeks to address motherhood and other contemporary issues. Osbourne was the last original co-host following the departure of fellow co-host and series creator Sara Gilbert. In September 2010, Osbourne made a return to The X Factor at the Judges' Houses round of series 7 where she assisted Walsh at Adare Manor, County Limerick, Ireland to pick the final 3 contestants of the Over 28s category, Then in September 2012, she joined Walsh again this time in Las Vegas, for the 9th series Judges' Houses segment of the competition, to help him choose his final 3 groups. Osbourne has expressed interest in reprising her role on the judging panel, notably in September 2012, when she said that she would 'love' to return for the show's tenth series. Media outlets reported in December 2012 that X Factor producers had approached Osbourne for a return in 2013, reportedly to replace Tulisa. In April 2013, the show's creative director Brian Friedman said that he was "confident" of Sharon Osbourne's return, following her departure from America's Got Talent and replacement by Heidi Klum. It was later announced by ITV that Osbourne would indeed be returning for the tenth series of the show, replacing Tulisa. She returned to the judging panel alongside Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger, and original panellist Walsh. During the live shows, she mentored the Over 25s category which included Lorna Simpson, Shelley Smith and Sam Bailey. Bailey was eventually announced as the winner of the show on 15 December, marking Osbourne's first victory as a mentor in the show's ten-year history. Osbourne did not return for the eleventh series of The X Factor UK and was replaced by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. In 2014 and 2017, Osbourne appeared as a guest panellist on ITV's daytime programme Loose Women. On 1 June 2016, it was announced that once again, Osbourne would return to The X Factor for the show's thirteenth series to replace Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. She judged alongside Cowell, Walsh (who replaced Nick Grimshaw) and Scherzinger (who replaced Rita Ora). She once again mentored the Over 25s category, choosing Saara Aalto, Relley C and Honey G as her top three contestants. Aalto went on to become the series' runner-up. Although initially casting doubt on returning for another series due to her commitments with The Talk, Osbourne returned to The X Factor for the fourteenth series. This time she again mentored the Girls category; her last contestant Grace Davies finished as the runner-up. Osbourne was initially confirmed to return for the fifteenth series as the fifth judge during the live shows portion of the competition but later declined the offer to return, feeling she wasn't needed on the panel and was replaced by Ayda Field. In 2020, she portrayed herself in season 5, episode 2 of Lucifer. In March 2022, Osbourne joined TalkTV hosting a new weekly prime time show named "The Talk".
