It was July 2000, and as you know from the last story, Sharon Osbourne, we were spending two days hanging out broadcasting and trying to scoop interviews at the Ozzfest 2000 shows in Mansfield, MA at the Tweeter Center.

Friday I was supposed to have an Ozzy phoner, which he was unable to wake up for, so it was turned into an in-person interview at the venue, sometime over the two days of shows.

On Saturday, Sharon was around, and we did the interview you can read about here at ifollo. Sunday, as she said she would, Sharon made sure I was in the pipeline for an Ozzy sit-down at the venue.

It was the end of the day Sunday, after being there from early morning through 11p each night, and around 6p on Sunday, waiting at a backstage table, outside the catering area, under a huge tent, Tony Dennis, I believe is his last name, came and fetched me. He is the blond-haired guy who has been Ozzy's assistant for a long, long, long, long time. LOL. Very nice guy, and he asked if I was ready, and whisked me into the interior dressing room area backstage. Tony introduced me to the ex-Navy Seal (that is how he was introduced) who sits outside Ozzy's dressing room, and we went in. In the first curtained-off area, was kind of the function of a foyer area, or reception... Through the curtains, and the other half of the giant main dressing room back there contained Ozzy, Sharon, Aimee, and Phil, her bf at the time.

Tony introduced me to Ozzy, Sharon said hi, and then Ozzy cordially introduced me to everyone. I should all their hands, and was impressed what a gorgeous girl his oldest daughter Aimee is. She had super long dark hair, all black, very goth looking outfit, and was very nice. Sharon said something about leaving us to do our interview, and they all scooted, and I sat next to Ozzy on the couch as Sharon instructed.

He was dressed as you see in the pic. Overall, he was extremely considerate, focused on our conversation (Sabbath, new Adam Sandler movie of the time he was doing music for, Iommi as a guitarist, rumours of a song being recorded at a Mass. studio nearby, and some other topics I cannot recall), and looked me in the eye often.

In no way can I say anything bad about Ozzy. He and his people took excellent care of me. They gave me a full 10 minute interview, I got an ID, picture and was treated with great respect and care.

It remains one of the most significant interviews of my career, if not in fact the single most important one.

The fact that he never let me down earns him massive respect from me. In the interview I asked him about meeting Paul McCartney and he revealed a sense of uncertainty about meeting a huge star you admire, and them not living up to the niceness you expect, or treating you in a way that makes you feel degraded or realize that they are not nice... It was cool because I said I could relate and thought that my job had encounters like that all the time. Ironically, this exact encounter was, as I noted, one I am very grateful for, and look back quite fondly on. Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne both made that day awesome for me.

I'm a media personality and radio broadcaster in Honolulu, Hawaii, and
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