“Ozzy And Me” Author Stephen Rea

Author Stephen Rea has lived an incredible life! How many people do you know who have befriended the Prince of Drakness as a teenager? Stephen did just that and wrote a book all about it.

He made it clear that this book wasn't a money grab. It was always scheduled to come out in November of 2025.

So, how does one meet and become friends with Ozzy? It all started when his parents inquired about the famed Rock in Rio concert. "Like you said, this is four decades ago, years before the Internet. And Ozzy announced he was playing Rock in Rio, which was the biggest rock festival the world had ever seen. That stage was a 10-day event. It was Queen and Ozzy and AC/DC and Rod Stewart, and yes, all these bands. And my dad amazingly wanted to go to this show. And my mom, I was a huge Ozzy fan. So my mom wrote to the Ozzy Osbourne fan club, or the letter, and said, We're trying to get to Brazil. Do you have any details? How do we get tickets? Where is it? What's happening? How's the organization work?"

What happened next? They got a call that changed everything. "Ozzy's secretary called my mom. My mom hadn't even put a phone number on the letter, but she found out her number. She called her and she said, If you're serious, if you're going to go to Brazil, don't worry about anything. We'll take care of everything when you get there. Just get yourselves to Rio. And so I get there. They give me a backstage pass." It just kept getting better for a young Stephen. "They take me on the side of the stage to watch Ozzy shows. They put me on Ozzy's bus to and from the venue.
And then on the last day, Ozzy invited me and my parents to have breakfast with him. No, no handlers or assistants or security. Just the four of us went for breakfast." A friendship was born.

I'll ask you another question: how many people do you know that skipped school to tour with Ozzy.....when they were just 16? That's what Stephen did!

"And so then in '86, so this is the Ultimate Sin tour. This is a year after Rio. I was 16 years old. And I just cut out of school for a month. I had saved my money, all my allowance, and done all the jobs. And I said, I'm going to travel around. He was doing a month in the UK and Ireland. And my plan was to stay in youth hostels and to jump onto buses and trains and follow the tour for a month. And again, the Osbournes were like, No, we'll take you on our tour bus. And we'll pay for all your hotel rooms. And here's a backstage pass. So you don't need to buy any tickets to any shows."

I don't know about you, but my 16th year wasn't like that!

Stephen was at the Back To The Beginning concert on July 5th. He saw Ozzy for the final time the next day. "And so, uh, the day after the show, I got a text saying that Ozzy wants to see you before you leave. And so I was packing up my hotel room, and I went up to his hotel suite, and he was there. And I was so grateful that somebody who worked for him took some pictures, the photograph in the book. He said to me, the last thing he said to me, we had like, you know, some time together, and then he gave me a big hug. And he said to me, "Call me, call if you need anything. We have been friends a long time, Stephen Ray." And, and I'm so grateful that somebody who worked from took a picture of the two of us together because that was the last time I saw him after 40 years."

What a story! The book is available now. Click here for more info.