Ozzy Osbourne Talks About His ‘Divorce’ from Black Sabbath

Compilations usually serve as a victory lap -- an opportunity for an artist to look back on the highlights of his or her career. But for Ozzy Osbourne, his new 'Memoirs of a Madman' also caused him to relive the days when he was fired from Black Sabbath.

As he told Billboard, he was "extremely pissed off with Sabbath...'How dare they fire me! I hope they die!' and all that s---." Still, now he realizes that it was a blessing. "By firing me, it saved me life in the long run, though at the time I was really mad they were gonna carry on without me. I suppose when I got the successful album ['Blizzard of Ozz'] they were pissed off at me. That's what happens. It's like a divorce."

But even though Ozzy's relationship with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler has been repaired, he disclosed that he never kept up with the music his then-former band made with his replacement. "I've never listened to one of [the Ronnie James Dio albums], but they did well for a bit, and now we're back together so it's all worked out."

Osbourne said that Sabbath will do one more album and tour together before they are disbanded and he can return to his solo career. He is hoping that they can patch up their relationship with original drummer Bill Ward in time.