Editing Blizzard of Ozz (section)

== Controversies ==

==="Suicide Solution"===
The song "[[Suicide Solution]]" has met with its share of controversy, most notably the October 1984 suicide of 19-year-old John McCollum who shot himself in the head. McCollum's parents alleged that their son had listened to the song immediately prior to killing himself, and they sued Osbourne along with [[Columbia Records|CBS Records]] for "encouraging self-destructive behavior" in young people who were "especially susceptible" to dangerous influences (''McCollum et al. v. CBS, Inc., et al.''). In his defence, Osbourne stated in court that when the song was being written the words "Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker" came to him suddenly and were a reflection not on the merits of suicide but rather on the death of [[AC/DC]] vocalist [[Bon Scott]], a friend of Osbourne's who had recently died of alcohol-related misadventure. Bob Daisley, who claims to have written the majority of the song's lyrics,<ref name="daisley" /> has stated that he had Osbourne's own substance abuse issues in mind when he composed the song.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005285/bio|title=Ozzy Osbourne|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> The McCollums' complaint was dismissed on the grounds that the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] protected Osbourne's right to free artistic expression.

=== 2002 reissue ===
In 1986, Daisley and Kerslake sued Osbourne for unpaid royalties, eventually winning songwriting credits on ''Blizzard of Ozz'' and ''[[Diary of a Madman (album)|Diary of a Madman]]''. Subsequently, a 2002 reissue was made of these albums which replaced Daisley and Kerslake's original bass and drum parts with new parts recorded by Osbourne's then-current drummer [[Mike Bordin]] and bassist [[Robert Trujillo]]. The 2002 reissue also included new backing vocals from singers [[Venice (band)|Mark Lennon]] and [[John Shanks]].

Osbourne's wife and manager, [[Sharon Osbourne|Sharon]], claimed at the time that it was Ozzy, not she, who was responsible for the decision to re-record the parts, stating "because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/osbourneozzy-blizzard/ |title=Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz / Diary of a Madman |last=Begrand |first=Adrien |magazine=[[PopMatters]] |date=25 June 2002 |access-date=24 October 2015}}</ref> However, Osbourne contradicted this claim in his 2009 [[autobiography]], stating that the decision to re-record the original bass and drum parts was Sharon's decision, and that he "didn't have anything to do with" it.<ref name="osbourneautobiography">{{Cite book |author=Osbourne, Ozzy |year=2011 |title=I Am Ozzy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yNzCgAEkW8cC&q=randy |publisher=[[Grand Central Publishing]] |isbn=9780446573139 | page =287 |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> He said his wife "just snapped" and had it done without his knowledge.<ref name="osbourneautobiography" /> He also stated that "a sticker was put on the covers telling everyone about it",<ref name="osbourneautobiography" /> although the sticker was not initially placed on the re-issue and was only placed on the covers at a later date due to fan outcry over the altered recordings.

In 2003, Daisley and Kerslake's lawsuit was dismissed by the United States District Court in Los Angeles. This dismissal was upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=2558 |title=News – Federal Appeals Court: Ozzy Do |publisher=[[KNAC|Knac.Com]] |access-date=20 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724062427/http://knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=2558 |archive-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> With regard to the reissue, Ozzy stated to The Pulse of Radio, reiterating a conversation with Sharon,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/ozzy-id-never-have-removed-daisley-and-kerslake-from-albums/ |title=Ozzy: I'd Never Have Removed Daisley And Kerslake From Albums |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709052719/http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/ozzy-id-never-have-removed-daisley-and-kerslake-from-albums/ |archive-date=9 July 2010}}</ref> "You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back." The 30th Anniversary release of ''Blizzard of Ozz'' and ''Diary of a Madman'' contains the original recordings, not the 2002 remixes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=148317/|title=Ozzy Osbourne Discusses 30th Anniversary Of 'Blizzard Of Ozz' Album On 'In The Studio'|work=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|access-date=26 October 2010}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>