Remember When Ozzy Butchered “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Wrigley? Turns Out He Meant To

Back in 2003, at the height of The Osbournes MTV madness, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne rolled up to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game. Like plenty of rock stars before (and after) them, they were asked to lead the crowd in the seventh inning stretch classic, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

What happened next instantly went into the hall of fame for bizarre-but-iconic Ozzy moments. Instead of singing the traditional way, Ozzy kind of… meandered his way through it, mumbling, rocking side to side, and letting Sharon do her best to hold it together. It was messy. It was weird. It was hilarious.

But here’s the twist: according to former Cubs broadcaster (and current White Sox announcer) Steve Stone, Ozzy did it on purpose. In a recent interview, Stone claimed the whole thing was an act:

“He’s a professional singer, as we know. If he wanted to sing those words, he could have. But he chose not to because he wanted to make it his show. And Ozzy was nothing if not a showman.”

Apparently, there was even a cheat sheet with the lyrics taped up in the booth — which Sharon kept glancing at — but Ozzy ignored it completely. Classic Prince of Darkness move.

Stone also made sure to note that Ozzy and Sharon couldn’t have been nicer to everyone behind the scenes that day, walking around the booth thanking people.

So yeah, next time you see that clip floating around of Ozzy absolutely butchering a baseball tradition, remember: he knew exactly what he was doing. You can see footage of the performance below.

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