Edmonton Sun: Beyond The Bluster, OZZY's A Nice Guy

Kerry Diotte of the Edmonton Sun reports that a pair of local salon employees got up close and personal with Ozzy Osbourne.

And one of the two women says Ozzy's not really like the ill-tempered, foul-mouthed man he comes across as on his reality TV show "The Osbournes".

Nor did he seem like the scary stage performer who fronted the band BLACK SABBATH and had a reputation for biting off the heads of bats.

Hair stylists Sheri Tkachuk and Dawn Abdullah were asked to give Ozzy some red, cornrow hair extensions prior to his sold-out concert June 6 at Edmonton, Alberta's Skyreach Centre.

The women, who work at Avanti Hair & Sanctuary Salon & Spa, went to the rocker's room to do the hair extension work in exchange for backstage passes to the show.

Later they hung around backstage with the heavy metal legend both before and after the concert.

"He was really, really nice," said Dawn.

"He talked about how he works out regularly, runs and tries to eat well."

Dawn said she saw the Wizard of Oz snack on healthy stuff such as blueberries, cottage cheese, a grilled chicken breast and brown rice.

He told the women he hadn't had a cigarette in two years and was drug-free for the last three months.

Dawn says Ozzy gets edgy prior to any concert. They were backstage before his Edmonton show and "he said, 'I'm really nervous.' "

To overcome that, he meditated, she said.

After the show, she and Sheri hung out with Ozzy for two hours and the strongest thing he drank was Starbucks coffee and lots of water.

But what about his famous foul-mouthed reputation?

"Well, he did swear a little bit around us, but when he was getting his hair extensions he had some music on. (He was partial to THE STONES and THE BEATLES).

"He was polite enough to ask us, 'Is the music too loud? Should I turn it down?' "