Ozzy Osbourne terrified the children of staff at Rockfield Studios when they discovered him dancing in a graveyard and howling at headstones in the dead of night in the 1970s.
The Black Sabbath frontman, 75, had been recording with the band in Monmouth, Wales, when the daughter of the chef at the residential recording studio encountered him in the cemetery next door to the property, where Queen and David Bowie have also made music.
Tiffany Murray, whose mother Joan was cordon bleu chef at Rockfield, said she was petrified when she saw Osbourne moving amongst the graves in the dark.
Speaking to The Times, Murray said Osbourne “truly scared the living sh*t” out of her when she saw him shouting and dancing with the headstones.
“Even now, encountering Ozzy Osbourne in a graveyard at night would be the stuff of nightmares,” she said.
To make amends, the rockstar quickly called up the luxury department store Harrods and had them deliver a van load of toys to the recording studio in Wales for Murray.
“I still have the three little felt hippos, although the eyes are missing,” she said.
“That episode taught me that rock stars have license to do really big wrong things but also the resources for really big sorrys, too.”
During his time at Rockfield Studios, Osbourne would also appear at the French windows of the property firing a shotgun while Joan Murray cooked in the kitchen, her daughter claims.
“It was therapy for him,” she said. “I don’t think you could do that now under current health and safety regulations.”
It comes after Osbourne’s wife Sharon revealed at the start of 2024 the singer is planning to say farewell to his fans with two final shows in his hometown of Birmingham.
Sharon brought up the possibility of Ozzy returning to the stage after he was forced to cancel earlier planned shows due to a string of health issues.
“He won’t tour again, but we are planning on doing two more shows to say goodbye,” she said.
“He feels like ‘I have never said goodbye to my fans and I want to say goodbye properly.”
She added: “We will do it in Aston Villa where Ozzy is from.”
