Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
At Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026 at Zouk Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 28, Sharon Osbourne accepted the Visionary Award from Clive Davis, Michelle Anthony, and executive director Leila Cobo, as per Blabbermouth. The Billboard Power 100 featured 2026 awards presentations, including CEO of the year, the Clive Davis Visionary Award, the Disruptor Award sponsored by VENU, No. 1 Award and more. This is her speech:
It’s a huge honor to be given this award tonight. I mean, a visionary. Wow. How fabulous am I?
I have to say, when I started in the music industry at the ripe old age of 15, I never set out to win awards for myself. I believed that privilege belonged to the artists that I would one day manage. My vision was always about helping extraordinarily talented people achieve greatness, and it’s always been my vision.
I was drawn to artists who had that thing, that thing, that ‘it’ factor, that thing that you could never bottle. You can’t manufacture it. It’s something that is a God-given gift.
There are many, many people in this industry that are so, so talented, but there’s a handful of artists that have greatness. I was always drawn to that. Not having an ounce of talent myself, I was drawn to people like a magnet that had talent. And I had the honor of growing up with artists that I saw perform over and over again. Gene Vincent, Sam Cook, the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Brenda Lee, and, of course, one of my favorites, Little Richard. It was a masterclass in learning real artistry. And those people are still relevant today and will be in another hundred years to come.
My father was a visionary. He was a very, very successful manager in this industry. He was also a thief. I learned so much from him. I saw the things to do right, I saw the things to do wrong. I saw how he took from artists. He made them stars, but they were all swindled out of their money, something which I found abhorrent. But anyway, I do have to thank him, and I thank him for giving me the most incredible education in music. I learned everything from him.
My father’s philosophy was, ‘I’ll make you a star. I get the money.’ And he got it all. But I got to manage a legend. I got and did it the right way.
I met somebody in my life when I was 18 years old. I was a receptionist for my father. He walked into the office and I couldn’t believe this man who walked in wearing striped pajamas, and he had a forcet on a piece of string around his neck and no shoes. That man was Ozzy Osbourne. I saw him perform that night with Black Sabbath at a club called the Marquee in London, a legendary venue. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. I was, like, ‘What the fuck are they doing? This is shite.’ And after the second song, I was, like, ‘Oh my God, what are they doing? I’ve never heard anything like this.’ It was electric. There was sweat pouring down the walls. It was something I’d never seen before. I’d seen the greatest artists in the world perform, but I’d never seen anything like this. And they came to my father for management. And they walked out of the office terrified of him’ thinking that — and rightly so — that he would steal their money and they were terrified. And nine years later I ended up working with them all.
My husband parted company with Sabbath in ’79. He didn’t part company; they fired his arse. He was still signed to Warner Brothers at the time, and he’d finished his first solo record. We delivered it to Mo Ostin [the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records from 1972 to 1994], and he sent us back a very short note and it read, ‘Nice try, but it’s a pass. And we wish you all the luck in the world for your future.’ So we moved on to CBS Records who gave us $60,000, and Ozzy went in to CBS to do a meet-and-greet and sign his deal. And he took two doves with him. And at that meet-and-greet, which lasted all of two minutes, he decided to rip the head off the dove and throw it on the table. Walter Yetnikoff [president of CBS Records International from 1971 to 1975 and then president and CEO of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990] had us both physically thrown out of the building and warned us that if Ozzy stepped foot in the building again, he would destroy whatever he had left of a career. Ozzy never went back in that building, but he did sell nearly a hundred million records for that label. So he did it his way. Everything he did, he did his way. He was wild. He was creative. He wrote some of the best melodic melody lines in heavy metal. Nobody would be melodic in metal except for Ozzy Osbourne, and that’s what made him stand out. He was unique. And there will never, ever be another Ozzy fucking Osbourne in this industry again. He was unique.
The one thing that my father did teach me was that I could achieve anything I wanted and he did in fact empower me to be the best that I could be. And he told me, at the age of 15, if I wanted to make it in this industry, I had to know more than any other man in the industry. And he taught me well. And I would say that my balls are bigger than many men, and I’m quite proud of that.
But seriously, this industry is just magnificent. I could never have wanted to be in any other industry. I’m so drawn to creativity, to people who dedicate their lives to making art, to making music, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. And I still have a lot of work to do, and I will continue in this industry. And a visionary is my husband. And God bless you. And thank you.
