Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne Had Decades-Long Assisted Suicide Pact

TOGETHER FOREVER

The couple spoke often about their plans to “die with dignity.”

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording A

Sharon Osbourne’s declaration that she and husband Ozzy Osbourne had a suicide pact is receiving new interest after the legendary rocker’s death on Tuesday morning at age 76.

The Osbourne matriarch first revealed the “plan” in her 2007 memoir Survivor: My Story—The Next Chapter, as she expressed her fear of contracting dementia as her own father had.

“If this disease is to be my fate, I don’t want to repeat history and go through what my father has gone through,” she wrote then. “I’ve discussed it with my family and we have a plan in place. My kids would take me to Switzerland where euthanasia is legal, and you can die with dignity.”

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne

Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Sharon Osbourne confirmed the plan later that year to The Mirror, telling the site that she and her husband “have drawn up plans to go to the assisted suicide flat in Switzerland if we ever have an illness that affects our brains.” She explained, “If Ozzy or I ever got Alzheimer’s, that’s it—we’d be off. We gathered the kids around the kitchen table, told them our wishes and they’ve all agreed to go with it.”

Ozzy Osbourne revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, which limited his mobility over time and required several surgeries to his spine. A cause of death was not given when his family announced he had died on Tuesday.

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne on "The Conners," in 2020.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne on "The Conners," in 2020. Mitch Haaseth/ABC via Getty Images

But one Osbourne offspring, Kelly Osbourne, insists that there’s no there “there” when it comes to her parents’ so-called pact. Earlier this month, she clapped back at social media commenters who insisted that the Osbourne patriarch was dying. “My dad’s not dying. Stop,” she wrote to her Instagram Stories at the time per E! News. She added, “Stop making articles or posts about how you think my parents are having a suicide pact. That was bulls--t my mom said to get attention one time.”

(L-R) Kelly Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne, and Sharon Osbourne attend the Pre-Grammy Gala on Jan. 25, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California.
(L-R) Kelly Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne, and Sharon Osbourne attend the Pre-Grammy Gala on Jan. 25, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. evin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

But when Kelly’s brother Jack asked their parents whether euthanasia was “still a plan” for them during a 2023 episode of The Osbournes Podcast, both remained unmoved about their pact. “Do you think that we’re gonna suffer” instead?” Sharon Osbourne replied. “Mental suffering is enough pain without physical. So if you’ve got mental and physical, see ya.”

Even then Kelly pushed back, asking, “But what if you could survive?”

Her mother replied, “Yeah, what if you survived and you can’t wipe your own a--, you’re p---ing everywhere, s--tting, can’t eat.”

Ozzy Osbourne and son Jack Osbourne visit the Tribeca Film Festival 2011 portrait studio on April 25, 2011 in New York City.
Ozzy Osbourne and son Jack Osbourne visit the Tribeca Film Festival 2011 portrait studio on April 25, 2011 in New York City. Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

And yet, Ozzy Osbourne was resolute that he would pursue physician-assisted suicide for any “life-threatening condition” as recently as 2014.

“If I can’t live my life the way I’m living it now, and I don’t mean financially,” then, “that’s it,” he told The Mirror, indicating he’d be headed to Switzerland. “If I can’t get up and go to the bathroom myself and I’ve got tubes up my ass and an enema in my throat, then I’ve said to Sharon, ‘Just turn the machine off.’ If I had a stroke and was paralyzed, I don’t want to be here. I’ve made a will and it’s all going to Sharon if I die before her, so ultimately it will all go to the kids.”

If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741