Ozzy “tried to stab” Ronnie James Dio at their first meeting, says Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne has revealed that her late husband Ozzy‘s intense rivalry with Ronnie James Dio nearly turned catastrophic at their first meeting – see what she had to say below.

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Sharon makes the shocking revelation in the upcoming Paramount documentary, Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now – which is due to premiere on the network on October 7 – per Rolling Stone.

The documentary film chronicles the Black Sabbath legend’s final six years, and includes interviews with Ozzy, Sharon and some of their closest friends ahead of his tragic passing in July.

Per Rolling Stone, a big moment of the documentary sees Sharon reflecting on her husband’s deteriorating health in the final stages of his life. During his illness, she claimed Ozzy took the time to learn more about Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced him in Black Sabbath between 1979 and 1982 and again for a short reunion from 1991 until 1992.

Following Ozzy’s initial sacking from Sabbath in ’79 due to his alcohol and drug abuse, the rocker engaged in a rivalry with his success Dio. The pair were never able to let their grudges go, even up till Dio’s passing in 2010. The grudge appeared to haunt Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon revealed, as he had finally started to learn about Dio’s life and career while dealing with his own illnesses.

At one point, Sharon caught Ozzy watching a Dio interview on YouTube: “It was like, ‘Why are you watching Ronnie?’ He goes, ‘I feel sorry for him. I feel terrible.’ He never really listened to any of those [Black Sabbath] records at all. He never knew Ronnie. The first time he met him was when he tried to stab him at the Rainbow… with a fork. He never really knew the guy and never knew his music. So he feels really bad. So he watches Ronnie James Dio interviews and I’m like, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’”

Following Dio’s death in 2010, Ozzy softened his view of the former Rainbow vocalist: “Metal has lost one of its greatest voices.” Back in 2022, Osbourne opened up about his thoughts on Dio joining Sabbath and said that he eventually overcame his anger at the situation and realised that the singer “did a good job” fronting the group alongside Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi.

“At the time, I was fucking sad because they were the only thing that ever happened to me,” he said via Ultimate Classic Rock, adding that he was pleased to see that his former bandmates went for “somebody completely different” instead of an “Ozzy sound-alike.” He then said: “Looking back, [hiring Dio] was the best thing that ever happened”, as it gave the band the opportunity to have a “good start again.”

In late July this year, just days after Ozzy’s passing, Dio’s longtime drummer Vinny Appice shot down rumours that the two were in a feud for as long as they were: “Ozzy would always tell me how he loved Ronnie. Everybody created this thing that they hate each other, but Ozzy used to talk about him all the time… He really liked Ronnie… and there are some pictures on the internet where they’re hanging out, actually. You know, things get blown up on the internet. You don’t know the truth – really – of what’s going on.”