Ozzy Osbourne’s bandmates were unaware of his relapse

Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath bandmates were left in shock after learning he had relapsed last year (12), because they were completely unaware of any problems with his sobriety. The rocker has famously battled alcohol and substance abuse issues throughout his life, but he appeared to beat his demons for good following a stint in rehab in 2003.
However, in April (13), the Grammy winner took to his Facebook.com blog and revealed he had suffered a setback in 2012, and now his bandmates, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, have admitted the candid confession caught them off-guard, especially as they had been recording an album at the time.
Iommi tells Classic Rock Magazine, “You know what, I couldn’t believe it. He was working at my house and I didn’t pick up on it at all. None of us did. He really hid that well. It was a shock, actually, when (his wife) Sharon told me. I just couldn’t believe he’d been drinking again. I didn’t see any signs of it.”
Butler adds, “He was really good at keeping it secret. I thought he was talking a lot – he used to drive us nuts because he wouldn’t stop talking – but we put that down to the excitement of doing the album.
“It certainly didn’t affect his performance in the studio… to us, he’d worked better than ever. Sharon told me and Tony, and by that time Ozzy had gone into rehab.”
Butler and Iommi were not the only ones who were left in the dark about the relapse – in April (13), wife and manager Sharon Osbourne admitted that she had had no idea he was using again.
The rock icon is now clean and sober again after managing to get his addiction issues under control once more.