Ozzy Osbourne has finally answered whether he really sniffed ants with Mötley Crüe during a tour with the band in 1984. After leaving the story hanging for many years by saying he didn't remember the incident, the Prince of Darkness confessed that the story is true.
The revelation came during an episode of The Osbournes , in which Ozzy was asked by his son Jack about the "line" of ants that became one of the most memorable (and disgusting) scenes in the film The Dirt , the Crüe biopic. "Yes, I did it. I was there and I did it with my nostrils," Ozzy stated. "I was drunk and [sniffed the ants]."
Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon, doesn't quite believe that story. “I wasn't there, thank God. I tried to stay away from Mötley Crüe when they were with Ozzy and, honestly, I don't know. All I know is that [that scene] made their movie. And since we're on the subject, I want to know why the movie's promotional material shows a guy imitating Ozzy (…). Nikki Sixx is a jerk,” she said. “But I would say no [about the story].”
Ozzy Osbourne sniffing ants in the Mötley Crüe movie.
In the movie The Dirt , inspired by the book of the same name by Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil , and Nikki Sixx, along with writer Neil Strauss , there is a scene depicting the incident.
In 1984, Ozzy invited Mötley Crüe on the Debauched . According to Sixx's account in the book, they were gathered at a hotel on a day off from shows when the former Black Sabbath showed up. Since the younger band didn't have any cocaine to offer, Ozzy's solution was to snort a line of ants on the floor. Not satisfied, Ozzy allegedly urinated on the floor next to the hotel pool and licked his own urine, daring Nikki Sixx to do the same. When the Crüe bassist accepted and urinated on the floor as well, Ozzy also drank his fellow musician's urine.
The scene with ants and urine at Mötley Crüe would have been even worse.
There is another account of this bizarre story. According to Jake E. Lee , guitarist on Ozzy's tour at the time, there is only a small error in Sixx's description, as the Prince of Darkness supposedly sniffed a small spider instead of a line of tiny ants.
“It started as a competition between Nikki and Ozzy, they were in the pool and had a race; Ozzy lost, of course. They had a push-up competition and, once again, Ozzy lost. He was tired of losing and raised the bar, I remember Ozzy was sitting there with a weird look on his face. He was sitting on the concrete and pee started flowing out from under him. And he was obviously taking a lot of vitamins, because [the urine] was lime green. Then Sixx peed on the girl who was with him,” Lee told Tone-Talk (via Blabbermouth ). “That’s when Ozzy bent over and started licking his own green pee. That’s when I said, ‘Okay, I’m leaving,’ because there were families on the other side of the pool.”
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