EXCLUSIVE: Why Sharon Osbourne Secretly Made Husband Ozzy Wear a Wig — And How It Sparked his Most 'Demonic' Stage Stunt
Ozzy Osbourne's wig led to a stunt for the ages.
Sept. 12 2025, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
Ozzy Osbourne once convinced tens of thousands of fans he had ripped out his own hair in a satanic frenzy on stage – a prank born after his wife, Sharon, insisted he hide a shaved head under a wig, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The late 76-year-old heavy metal frontman, who earned notoriety for biting the heads off animals and cultivating a reputation as a self-styled madman, staged the shocking stunt during Black Sabbath tours in 1982.
The Birth Of A Stunt
Ozzy's wild antics led his wife, Sharon, to make him wear a wig.
What began as a cover-up after two days of drink and drugs turned into one of the most infamous moments of his live career.
"Ozzy really hated wearing that wig," claimed a musician who was on tour with him at the time. "He kept saying he wanted to yank it off during the set, so we came up with the idea of making it look like he was ripping off his scalp.
"He was instantly into it – he thought it would completely freak the crowd out."
According to guitarist Brad Gillis, who was then playing alongside Ozzy, the incident began when the singer disappeared before a concert in Texas.
Ozzy And The Scalp Trick Freaks Out Fans
Ozzy hated the wig, and a prank was suggested to scare the crowd.
"Sharon couldn't find Ozzy for a couple of days," Gillis recalled. "This was before cell phones, so she was ringing around asking if anyone had seen him.
"When he finally came back, he was hungover and had shaved his head completely."
Sharon, then 30, insisted on buying him a long blonde wig, which bassist Rudy Sarzo trimmed to match his usual style. The solution left Ozzy – who died in July after a battle with Parkinson's – agitated to say the least.
Gillis recalled: "He said, 'I hate this thing, I want to rip it off.' That's when we thought – why not make it look like he’s peeling away his scalp?"
The stunt, however, was short-lived.
At the Texas Jam festival in Dallas, in front of 80,000 fans, the prank unfolded. Ozzy tore away his shirt before grabbing at his head. As fake blood poured down his face, he slowly pulled the wig free, waving his arms aloft as the crowd stared open-mouthed.
"It was pure theater," said Gillis. "Eighty thousand kids were just transfixed. Their jaws dropped."
The act was repeated at a show in New Orleans but quickly abandoned. "Word started spreading on radio stations, so we couldn't keep doing it," Gillis said. "Back then, without social media, you could still surprise people like that – but only for a couple of nights."
Sharon Shuts It Down
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Sharon called the shots when it came to Ozzy's behavior on stage.
Ozzy's penchant for chaos extended well beyond wigs and stage blood.
Drummer Vinnie Appice, now 67, recalled the singer would soak him with water mid-performance.
"Ozzy thought it was funny," Appice told Sirius XM's Trunk Nation. "I'd see him coming with a bucket, and the next thing I knew, everything was drenched – me, the drums, the stage. The crew had to rush in and wipe it all down."
The antics ended only when Sharon intervened.
Appice said: "The next morning in the hotel lobby, she asked how things were going. I said, 'Yeah, but he keeps throwing water on me.' She just said, 'He did?' That was the end of it. The water stopped right then. It showed who really called the shots."
Even for a performer who built a career on the outrageous, the wig stunt remains one of Ozzy's most surreal episodes.
