Tragic Details About Ozzy Osbourne's Daughter Kelly

This article includes mentions of substance abuse and mental health issues.

Before we ever thought about "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and all their spin-offs, we were obsessed with "The Osbournes." One of the first reality shows of its kind, "The Osbournes" took us into the home of heavy metal god Ozzy Osbourne, his wife Sharon, and children Jack and Kelly, who were the youngest of Ozzy Osbourne's six kids from his two marriages. Kelly Osbourne was just 17 when the Emmy-winning show debuted on MTV in 2002. The fame served as a springboard for Kelly's career, but it also proved to be a double-edged sword. That much scrutiny took a toll on Kelly, who shared in a 2023 episode of "The Osbournes" podcast, that the show had a negative impact on her mental health. "Imagine having to relive every conversation you've ever had throughout a 24-hour period or six month period, and then all of a sudden people are judging everything you've said," Kelly explained. "It's crazy. It just made me so insecure."

In an interview with the Mirror, Ozzy acknowledged the detrimental effect the show had on his children. "I am not sorry I did it," he said, while noting he became fearful things had gone too far. "There is rock and roll fame, which is pretty intense, but that Osbourne level was just unbelievable," he said. "The kids paid for it. They all ended up doing drugs."

When Kelly Osbourne wasn't attending private schools in England, she was traveling with her dad during the "Ozzfest" tour. Life on the road isn't always the most wholesome environment, especially for a child. But a tour bus wasn't where Osbourne got her first taste of drugs. Her addiction started more innocently when, at the age of 13, she was prescribed liquid Vicodin after a tonsillectomy. "I found, when I take this, people like me. I'm having fun, I'm not getting picked on. It became a confidence thing," the actor told People. Osbourne quickly began abusing any prescription drug she could get her hands on to numb her insecurities. She admitted that when she was shooting "The Osbournes" with her family, she developed a daily habit that involved taking "whatever I could sniff or swallow to not be me." 

In an interview with Variety regarding his sobriety, Ozzy actually said his drug use stemmed from similar feelings. "I've always been self-medicating because I've never liked the way I felt. I've had great success in my life, but I've never felt great about myself. And so, from a very early age, I used to sniff fumes, all kinds of things, anything to get me out of my head."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Growing up in a family where alcohol flowed like water and drugs were easily accessible, it's not hard to see how both Kelly Osbourne and her brother Jack developed addiction issues. Kelly, who got hooked on prescription drugs before she was old enough to drive, had a pharmacy at her fingertips thanks to willing friends and physicians. "I have crazy anxiety," she shared with People. "So what's the first thing you do? Go to a doctor. They give you Xanax, Klonopin, Valium. I'd start off taking them as prescribed. Then I'd be like, 'These are magic pills! Take 10!'" 

Much of Osbourne's addiction stemmed from low self-esteem, often triggered by the way she looked. So when the London native found herself in Los Angeles, she became the subject of bullying and hurtful comments about her decidedly un-California-girl appearance. The feelings she got from drugs made her feel invincible and immune to the hurt. "The first time I took a Vicodin pill was at a club in L.A.," she told People. "I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Someone said, 'Take one of these.' Within 45 minutes I was the life of the party. I thought, 'I can take one of these and I don't have to worry about if I'm dressed right or look fat.'"  When the high wore off, however, so did the confidence, and Osbourne needed more to keep going.

Drugs had been a part of Kelly Osbourne's life since she was 13, but her drug use escalated in 2003, a year that saw her mother Sharon's treatment for cancer, her brother Jack's own substance abuse issues, and an ATV accident that nearly claimed her father Ozzy Osbourne's life. In an interview with ABC News, Kelly said, "It's like it couldn't get any worse, there's no way." She added, "Hands down, the worst year of my life." 

Kelly was with her father at their estate in Buckinghamshire at the time of the accident that left the "Crazy Train" singer in a coma for eight days. In her memoir, "There Is No F***ing Secret: Letters From A Bada** B***h," she recalled the terrifying incident. Per People, she wrote about being at her father's side in the hospital, covered in his blood, and watching as the singer fought for his life — and nearly lost. The experience was traumatic enough to push Kelly's drug use to the next level. "The only way I could even face my life was by opening that pill bottle, shaking out a few pills — or a handful — into my palm, and throwing them down my throat," Kelly wrote. According to the "Dancing with the Stars" contestant, she became a self-described "trash can user," and tried every drug but crack (including heroin) to help her cope and ease her pain.

Around the time that Ozzy nearly died in an ATV accident, her beloved mother Sharon was receiving treatment for colon cancer. The one-two punch was a knockout blow to Osbourne, who once described her mom to ABC News as "bloody annoying," but also as her "best friend." In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK (via ABC News), Osbourne shared that she was up for a big movie role when Sharon's diagnosis was revealed and she was faced with the decision to go for the part or help out her mom. "I was faced with the choice of a career or spending what could have been the last days of my mother's life with her. ... I became my mum's nurse 24/7," she said.

Osbourne's memoir, "There Is No F***ing Secret," is a collection of letters the daughter of rock royalty wrote to address multiple issues in her life. Both her mother's cancer and her father's wreck factored into the mix. "I still cannot read the letter I wrote about my mom's cancer and my dad's accident," Osbourne told Entertainment Weekly. "My mom was in the hospital having chemo and trying to fight her battle with cancer, while my dad was in a coma in the U.K. And I watched both of them come out of surgery and flatline and die in front of me and get brought back to life." Kelly and Sharon now often come together to support cancer research.

The Osbournes might not have been the most conventional family, but there was no denying that they were a tight-knit clan who, in between the bickering, shared a genuine love for one another. It was that love that led Kelly Osbourne's parents to send her to rehab at age 19 after discovering she was using prescription drugs.

Osbourne went on to check into several treatment centers over the years, finding brief periods of sobriety followed by relapses, including one in 2021. What we know about Kelly Osbourne's reported relapse that year is that it stemmed from a nervous breakdown near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. She came clean about the ordeal via social media and told Extra that she "had thought that I had a enough time under my belt and I could drink like a normal person."  She added that by sharing her relapse publicly, she hoped to help others. "This is something I am going to battle for the rest of my life. It's never going to be easy," she admitted. "Through being accountable and owning your own journey and sharing what you can go through, you can help other people."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Multiple trips to rehab might not have made a big impression on Kelly Osbourne, but there was one instance that nearly scared Ozzy's wild child straight. Osbourne shared in her book "No F**king Secrets" (per People) that her mom Sharon had her committed to a mental institution for three days. "Mum once locked me in a mental institution for three days, and it scared the hell out of me," she wrote. "I had to wear paper shoes, since I could potentially kill myself with a shoelace, and wasn't allowed to have anything metal, not even a spoon. I wasn't suicidal by medical standards, but I heard Mum's message loud and clear: stop using drugs before I was gone for good." 

Osbourne had reason to be afraid. She shared in an interview with Us Weekly that, "There was a time where everyone around me was dying and ODing or something horrible ... There are only three places you end up when you're an addict: jails, institutions or death. I was really f**king lucky that I only ended up in the institutions." Although the experience was intense for Osbourne, she revealed that she returned to her old ways and, in a tragic irony, became suicidal after getting out. In an interview with People, Osbourne admitted, "I couldn't see into tomorrow." 

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org 

The public obsession with body types has affected many celebrities, including Kelly Osbourne, who was often the target of ridicule and bullying for her weight. Even though her drug addiction and other scandals made the news, it was her weight that got the most attention. While speaking on a panel at the Inaugural Beacher Vitality Happy & Healthy Summit at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 10, the reality star shared that she has been judged more harshly for her weight than for anything else in life."We live in a fat-phobic world," Osbourne said (per People). "I have been a drug addict, an alcoholic ... I've been a complete mess, disrespectful to people, horrible — but I got more s**t for being fat than I did for anything else. It's insane."

In a no-win situation, the court of public opinion continued even after Kelly Osbourne underwent a dramatic weight loss thanks to a strict diet and exercise routine, along with a gastric sleeve procedure. True to form, the sassy celeb owned up to the surgery, and told hosts Dax Holt and Adam Glyn on their "Hollywood Raw" podcast, "I had surgery; I don't give a f**k  what anyone has to say." That admission didn't stop the public, many of whom claimed that the Kelly Osbourne is nearly unrecognizable thanks to more cosmetic procedures than just a gastric sleeve.

Known for being brash and outspoken, Kelly Osbourne has made comments that have raised eyebrows over the years, but few more controversial than the one she made on national television that got her labeled a racist. While appearing as a guest co-host on "The View," Osbourne asked "If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?" Osbourne said her comment was intended to make a point about Trump, but instead it raised the ire of not just viewers, but also her co-hosts. Rosie Perez, of Puerto Rican descent, took a special offense, and commented, "Latinos are not the only people doing that." 

Osbourne tried to run it back, but the damage was done. In an odd mea culpa, Osbourne took to Facebook to apologize for her "poor choice of words," but explained that she wouldn't apologize for being a racist because she wasn't. "I whole-hearted f**ked up today," she wrote. "I don't want to bulls**t anyone with lame excuses." She ended her post with the sentiment, "It is my hope that this situation will open up a conversation about immigration and the Latin community as a whole. By the way I clean my own f**ing toilets." Whoopi Goldberg spoke out on Osbourne's behalf (per The Hollywood Reporter). "She made a boo-boo. I know folks [are] outraged, but if you've ever met a real racist, it's a whole other world, honey."

When "The Osbournes" became a household name, there was one glaring absence from the house of metal mayhem. Kelly Osbourne's older sister Aimee was nowhere to be found. That's because Aimee chose to move out of the family home rather than have her daily life captured on television. In an interview with Independent, she explained, "Back then, I still felt I was trying to figure out who I was in the chaos of family life, so why on earth would I want that portrayed on television?" 

That very un-Osbourne decision may be the real reason Kelly Osbourne and her older sister no longer speak, a fact she revealed to Dax Shepard on his "Armchair Expert" podcast. "We don't talk," she said. "We're just really different. She doesn't understand me and I don't understand her." Hindsight is 20/20, and although the Osbourne's were excited about their shot at the MTV reality world at the time, mom Sharon would later admit that Aimee was not. "The Talk" host shared on air (per People) that she had second thoughts. "She felt too that she didn't want to grow up on camera. She hated the idea — it was appalling to her," Sharon said. "And so she left at 16 and I regret every day that she did."

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have weathered many of life's ups and downs together, from drug addiction to cancer and even an affair that caused Sharon to kick the lead singer of Black Sabbath to the curb. Sharon Osbourne made it through Ozzy's cheating scandal, but daughter Kelly wasn't as forgiving. When it was revealed that her father's mistress was celebrity hair colorist Michelle Pugh, Osbourne took to social media to call Pugh out, tweeting angry rants, and even making Pugh's phone number public. The result of Osbourne's tirade was a lawsuit accusing her of bullying. 

Pugh's lawyer, F. Edie Mermelstein, spoke to People (per HuffPost), and claimed that his client had been the target of harassment and bullying from millions of people, thanks to Osbourne. "There are laws on our books addressing harm and damage to the reputation of an individual, as well as publication of a person's private facts," he said. "In violation of California laws and Twitter rules and policies, Kelly Osbourne publicly exposed my client to hatred, contempt ridicule and disgrace." Although some said that Osbourne should have directed her ire towards her father, she disagreed. "I will never not be good with my dad," she told Entertainment Tonight (per The Sun). "That does not mean that I think what he did wasn't f*****g stupid, but that's between him and I. I'm a daddy's girl. I love my dad."

When Black Sabbath lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne died at 76, fans around the world joined his family in mourning. To those fans, the larger than life Ozzy may have been the "Prince of Darkness," but to Kelly Osbourne, he was just "dad." In her Instagram story following her father's death, Osbourne posted (per CNN), "I feel unhappy, I am so sad. I lost the best friend I ever had." Fans will recognize those words as lyrics from "Changes" by Black Sabbath, a song that Osbourne and her dad recorded their own different version of in later years. 

Ozzy, publicly revealed in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, but he continued to try and do what he did best: perform. However, fans began to speculate on his deteriorating health after a fake, AI generated video showed what was supposed to be Ozzy talking about his impending death. His daughter jumped to his defense via an Instagram story (per E! News). "He's not dying," she posted. "Yes, he has Parkinson's, and yes, his mobility is completely different than it used to be, but he's not dying. What is wrong with you?" Little did she know she was wrong, and Ozzy Osbourne's death make his daughter Kelly's recent comments so much more tragic now.