![Why Ozzy Osbourne Got Arrested in Memphis](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2015/05/smoking-gun.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Why Ozzy Osbourne Got Arrested in Memphis
A night of barking at the moon following his May 14, 1984, tour stop at Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum ended with Ozzy Osbourne in the drunk tank.
He was arrested at 12:30AM on a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication, after the cops said they found the former Black Sabbath frontman "staggering drunk" in Memphis' Beale Street entertainment district.
“See, I can’t have a casual line of coke – that doesn’t equate in my head," Osbourne later admitted. "I never went to the bar for a drink; I never smoked a joint. I used to go into a bar to get absolutely shitfaced. It didn’t really occur to me that other people were going there for a drink.”
Osbourne was released from the Memphis jail some five hours later, after drying out, and was not required to return for a court appearance. He continued on with a tour in support of 1983's Bark at the Moon, visiting Nashville, Tenn. and Jacksonville, Fla., over the following days.
He also, unfortunately, continued ingesting a prodigious amount of intoxicants into the new millennium.
His wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, said Ozzy was stoned through the entire early-'00s run of their reality television series, The Osbournes. He then relapsed during a Black Sabbath reunion.
"Alcoholism and drug dependency is a killer disease," Osbourne later admitted. "I went to two rehab places and then I still went out again. And then I stopped again and then I started. I have accepted I have a problem with drugs and alcohol. That's a big stepping stone, you know. I'm very lucky that I'm still alive and I'm also very lucky I can still put two words together."
Ozzy Osbourne Albums Ranked
More From KKTX FM
![Ozzy Osbourne Names His Ultimate Dream Band](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/07/attachment-Ozzy-Osoburne-Four-Questions-Marks.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![These 40 Smiling Rock Stars Will Make Your Day](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/05/attachment-ozzy_osbourne_hayley_williams_lemmy_kilmister.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![How Ozzy Osbourne + Geezer Butler Started Talking Again](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/05/attachment-Ozzy-Osbourne-Geezer-Butler.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne Shares His Greatest Fear During ‘The Osbournes’ Podcast](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/05/attachment-ozzy_osbourne_greatest_fear.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Why Ozzy Osbourne Still Thinks Black Sabbath Is ‘Unfinished’](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2023/04/attachment-Black-Sabbath.jpeg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne Shares His Biggest Regret About Black Sabbath](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/05/attachment-Ozzy-Osbourne-Question-Mark.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne Reveals the ‘Best F–king Guitar Player’ He’s Ever Played With](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2020/08/GettyImages-113157476.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne + Billy Morrison Discuss New Podcast ‘The Madhouse Chronicles’ + Friendship — Interview](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2024/05/attachment-ozzy_osbourne_billy_morrison.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne Shares Update on Performing at Rock Hall Induction](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2022/12/attachment-ozzy.jpg?w=980&q=75)