Sharon

In 1981 Ozzy divorced his first wife, Thelma. He came home one day (drunk) to find all of his belongings outside and was told that if he went into the house he would be arrested. Rather then go through the hassels of divorce proceedings to determine who got what, Ozzy told her to keep everything. Ozzy would often leave home for days at a time, and so Thelma's reaction couldn't have been suprising, even to Ozzy.

Ozzy and Sharon had gotten to the point where they were ready to be married. Sharon hoped that this would also get Ozzy a better deal since her father was the one managing his recording and managerial contracts.

Ozzy and Sharon were married on a Honolulu-Hawaii beach on July fourth, 1982.

Once they were married the better deal they had been hoping for did not come through. Sharon did not want her father controlling Ozzy's future, and so they decided to buy out Ozzy's contract from him. Ozzy had to release one more album before this could happen ( thus "Speak of the Devil" was a purposly low-budget project, a live recording done at the Ritz in New York on Sept. 26th and 27th) and even then the couple had to pay Sharon's father 1.5 million dollars to purchase the contract.

One of the conditions for the transfer of Ozzy's contract from Don to Sharon was that she get him to enroll in the Betty Ford center for his drinking problems. She did this by telling him she was "going to teach him to drink like a gentleman". Ozzy took this to mean that he would learn how to drink properly, not at all what the Betty Ford center was for. When he showed up, he asked where he could find the bar. It didn't take long to find out that at Betty Ford there is no bar! Ozzy would also begin work on his next album, Bark at the Moon.

The ruines on the border of the 'Speak of the Devil' album and inside cover actually translate into meaningful phrases. The translation is found in Ozzy's autobiography book:

"Howdy! Dial-A-Demon productions in conjunction with graveyard graphics proudly presents the madman of rock dumping into El Satanos toiletto." "A tribute to Randy Rhoads, the axeman. That kid was my lifeline, you know? He was such a dynamic player and I'd rather not talk about it anymore because it cuts me up every day of my life. Randy Rhoads rest in peace and love."