Osbourne is the son of a former West Midlands factory worker

After decades of heavy metal fame, drug abuse, bad behaviour and a hit TV show, Ozzy and his family have recently become the victims of a terrible run of illness, injury and other misfortune.

Ozzy and Sharon escaped unhurt from the Good Friday fire, which broke out in the living room while the couple were in bed - but the house was damaged.

It came four months after a burglar broke into the same home and stole valuable jewellery including wedding rings, a pearl necklace and a sapphire.

The intruder escaped, but only after Ozzy tackled him and chased him out of a first floor window.

In December 2003, the Black Sabbath singer almost died in a quad bike accident in the grounds of the home.

In July 2002, Sharon was diagnosed with colon cancer and her husband admitted he "fell apart" during her battle for health. She made a full recovery.

He has told of being abused as a child growing up in the UK

Ozzy's drug and alcohol abuse, which left him unable to walk or talk properly, led Sharon to pack her bags and briefly leave him.

Meanwhile, their son Jack has been treated for drug problems, attempted suicide and was the victim of a jewel thief while daughter Kelly was also treated for an addiction to painkillers.

The problems are in stark contrast to great success achieved at the same time, sparked by MTV's hit fly-on-the-wall show The Osbournes, which began in 2002.

The rock star was at a loss to explain its popularity, and said: "I suppose Americans get a kick out of watching a crazy Brit family like us make complete fools of ourselves every week."

He subsequently scored a UK number one single, played for the Queen, got invited to the White House and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sharon has become a star in her own right as a judge on TV talent show X-Factor and the host of her own US talk show, while their offspring have become regulars on TV and in the press.

His family's life at home in LA enthralled millions of TV viewers

It has been an incredible journey for the 57-year-old dyslexic son of a West Midlands factory worker who was sexually abused as a child and had a juvenile conviction for burglary.

Ozzy channelled his frustration - "I felt like a caged animal", he once said - into his music.

As Black Sabbath's frontman, his excesses became the stuff of legend. Shocking even his colleagues, Sabbath sacked him in 1979. But it didn't stop there.

Two years later, Ozzy bit the head off a bat that was tossed on stage by a fan. He later claimed later he thought it was a rubber toy.

Outrage

He also outraged record executives by biting the head off a live dove during a meeting.

Other topics for his memoirs include his arrest for drunken urination on The Alamo, taking acid tabs every day for two years with Sabbath's drummer, Bill Ward, and a stoned attempt to strangle Sharon while on tour in Moscow.

But Sharon, daughter of legendary rock manager Don Arden, has proved herself to be an astute custodian of her husband's talents.