BBC News reports:

Sharon Osbourne's music mogul father Don Arden has died at the age of 81.

Dubbed the "Al Capone Of Pop" for his uncompromising business practices, he steered acts like ELO, THE SMALL FACES and BLACK SABBATH to stardom.

Osbourne became estranged from her father after fighting him for control of husband OZZY OSBOURNE's career.

The pair were reconciled in 2002 after Arden developed Alzheimer's disease. Osbourne's spokesman said her father had died in a Los Angeles nursing home.

Born Harry Levy in Manchester in 1926, the future music manager set his sights on a showbusiness career at an early age.

In the years following World War II, he established himself as a singer in the West End and on radio.

After marrying Hope Shaw in 1950, he pursued a more stable income by arranging tours for US acts like GENE VINCENT and LITTLE RICHARD.

Balcony threat...

This eventually led him into artist management, and he developed a reputation for having a fierce temper.

He became notorious for a 1966 incident where he reportedly hung rival manager Robert Stigwood from a fourth-floor balcony for trying to lure away one of his acts, The Small Faces.

"To try to steal my discovery - that was unforgivable," said Arden in his 2002 autobiography, Mr Big.

"Yes, I threatened to throw Robert Stigwood off the balcony of his office. But no, I didn't personally hang him by his boots.

"I wouldn't have dirtied my hands on them."

As news of the incident spread, Arden says he relished his new-found "reputation as a hard man".

"Fear became my weapon," he wrote. "I recognised that and played on it".

Arden's success in the music industry continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and he even set up his own record label - Jet - releasing albums by Electric Light Orchestra, Roy Wood and Ozzy Osbourne.

But he fell out with several of his acts, including The Small Faces and singer-songwriter Lynsey De Paul, both of whom claimed they did not receive money owing to them.

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