Osbourne first became famous as the daughter of rock legends Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne when their family life began being chronicled on the Emmy Award-winning MTV reality show, The Osbournes. An aspiring rocker herself, she released her first album, Shut Up, on Epic in 2002. After Osbourne was dumped from Epic, the album was re-released a year later on the Sanctuary label under the name Changes with additional live material and a new title track, a duet with her father. She currently stars on the ABC teen series life as we know it. This is not the first time Osbourne has been rumored for Hairspray-during and after a backstage visit to the Neil Simon, Osbourne expressed her interest in making her Broadway debut as Tracy. Various outlets have also reported that Osbourne hopes to land the role in the upcoming film version of the tuner.

The role of Tracy Turnblad won Marissa Jaret Winokur a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. One Life to Live's Kathy Brier served as the first replacement on the Great White Way and the part is currently being played by newcomer Carly Jibson, who came to the Broadway production from the national tour.