I met Ozzy Osbourne at his home after he’d quit boozing – he then offered me a beer at 10am, says Sun photo legend
WANDERING the grounds of his Buckinghamshire mansion, Ozzy Osbourne turned to his friend Dave Hogan and said: “Do you know what? I’d forgotten we even had this house.”
It was 2006, and the Black Sabbath frontman and his wife Sharon had spent so much time filming MTV reality show The Osbournes in LA, they hadn’t returned to the estate in Little Chalfont for several years.
Today, their pal — legendary Sun photographer Dave — reveals how Ozzy, who died on Tuesday aged 76, was one of the most down-to-earth, funny and welcoming celebrities he ever met in his long career.
The snapper, affectionately known in the showbiz world as Hogie, recalls: “That day, he really did make me laugh.
“I was taking his picture for The Sun, but he didn’t want the house shown as they’d been burgled there so didn’t want to feature the actual property.
“Instead, we went into the grounds. He suddenly stopped, looked around and said how he’d forgotten they even owned it.
“It was the kind of thing he would just come out with.” Dave added of Ozzy, who revealed in 2020 that he had Parkinson’s disease “He was great company, a lovely man.
“There was no filter, he was just honest. He spoke what he thought and that was it.”
Ozzy’s family announced the heavy metal legend had died “surrounded by love” at the Grade II listed mansion in Welders, Bucks, that they bought in 1993.
Recently, the Osbournes built a “rehab” wing on the sprawling estate, which included a health and welfare exercise studio, art studio room, pool house and spa.
