Sharon Osbourne + Ex-Black Sabbath Manager Settle Public Dispute

After some public squabbling in 2025, Sharon Osbourne reveals that the Earth demos from Black Sabbath's early days are now back in possession of the band after reaching a settlement with Sabbath's first manager, Jim Simpson.

Osbourne revealed the news during an episode of The Osbournes 2.0 podcast with son Jack Osbourne, providing an update after a tumultuous period in which the Osbourne family had been attempting to come to an arrangement with Simpson who had announced his intent to release the material.

What Did Sharon Osbourne Say About the Settlement With Jim Simpson?

Around the 38 minute mark of the most recent Osbournes 2.0 podcast, Jack initially brought up the demos before Sharon revealed that it was now okay to discuss publicly.

"We settled with Jim Simpson and the band now have their demos back. And all four of them own it, which is where it should be," said Osbourne, confirming the ownership of Sabbath's core four members. "All of that stuff should be theirs. So it all ended well. So, yeah, they own them. We're gonna talk about what everybody wants to do with it and we'll go from there."

Sharon and Jack then discussed a bit of what they had heard, with Jack referring to the music as "different," and Sharon adding, "I just think it's historically important — for music lovers of that genre."

She also confirmed, "And then we got [the rights to] the pictures that were taken at that time too. So, that is all so important. I mean, listen, you [Jack] want those pictures. Everybody in the band's kids and grandkids would love to see [them]… It's special."

She concluded, "I'm just happy that it's where it should be — with the band and [they can decide] what they wanna do as a band, what they're gonna do with it. So that's great."

Of Simpson, she shared, "He did the right thing at the end of the day. He did the right thing for the band."

Sharon Osbourne Addresses Black Sabbath's Earth Era Recordings on The Osbournes 2.0 Podcast

What Material Was Under Consideration?

Simpson had initially claimed to have a collection of 1969 demos recorded when the group was still known as Earth, prior to adopting Black Sabbath as their moniker. Simpson had stated that he had used the demos to help land the band a record deal. Included in the collection was a cover of "Blue Suede Shoes" as well some material in which Tony Iommi played flute in addition to guitar.

He had initially started discussing the idea of releasing the material last year just prior to Ozzy Osbourne's death, but the dispute with the Osbourne family became public after Sharon Osbourne blasted Simpson in speaking about their dispute publicly on an episode of The Osbournes podcast.

What Had Previously Been Said Between Sharon Osbourne and Jim Simpson

In November 2025, in one of the Osbourne family's first appearances since the death of Ozzy Osbourne, they addressed on an episode of The Osbournes podcast what life had been like in the aftermath of the legendary singer's passing. While speaking about the amount of love and support they had received, they also shared that there had been those who were less sincere in their actions toward the family.

It was during this point of the discussion that the ongoing battle over the demos with Simpson came up. Sharon used the platform to allege to the viewing audience that Simpson had held onto the demos quietly for 56 years in order to claim ownership of the tapes and so that the copyright would have expired.

"He keeps it totally quiet, finds a little record company, cause no major record company would have taken it. He finds this little record label which the guy who runs it has gone seven times bankrupt, which is fine, but it just shows you the [decision making]. And he does a deal with this little record label to take the tapes and now distribute them,” said Osbourne at the time.

She made accusations that Simpson had intended to keep the money for himself and that he could've handled things differently and been paid a lot of money from the Sabbath camp rather than face potential legal action. She then urged the Sabbath fanbase not to purchased the tapes if they actually did come out.

Simpson then responded in a press release calling Sharon's comments "inaccurate and unfair criticisms." He disputed her characterization of himself, his role at the time and the size of the label he was working with. He also assured that he had paid for the demos to be recorded and added that he had approached the members of Sabbath in 2024 about the recordings.

“I approached members of the band about this on 24 Sept. 2024. The message I got back was that they didn’t want it released and wanted nothing to do with it. This included two very threatening emails from Sharon. But the band had every chance to be involved,” he offered.

He also called out Sharon Osbourne, noting, “Sharon is very mistaken. I wanted all band members to receive royalties from the album in the usual way, and I’m still more than happy for that to happen."

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Osbourne then countered back with documentation of their correspondence and concerns over the relaunching of Simpson's record label.

Now, with Simpson and Osbourne done squabbling and a settlement in place, the band can now make the decision of what happens with the demos and materials from that period next.

See how we ranked Black Sabbath's albums below.