07/23/2025
The end of yet another era, and another significant loss to attach to this week. Rest in Peace, Ozzy Osbourne. July 22, 2025. The world will miss you.
Ozzy’s first solo album (Blizzard of Oz) was one of the very first albums I bought on vinyl. 1980 was the year. I played that album over and over as loud as possible all throughout the summer in the Boston area. I spent that summer with my older brother. That album is also famous for showcasing the work of famed guitarist Randy Rhoads, who died in a plane crash in 1982.
I remember seeing Ozzy (with Rob) on his Diary of a Madman tour (second solo album), with Accept opening. I think that was in Syracuse, New York. It was around the time he was making headlines with the whole biting off the head of a bat drama.
In 1995, my good friend Pat met Ozzy in the bathroom of an LA recording studio and got him to sign one of his albums on cassette for me. Pat never understood a word he said.
I moved to Vegas from New York in 1989, and the first time I returned to New York (almost 10 years later, I believe), I played Ozzy’s song “Momma, I’m Coming Home” as I drove down the hill into the Ithaca valley. I remember that clearly, and will always connect that song to that exact moment in time.
Early this morning on the way back (Tuesday), they were talking about Yungblud’s cover of Ozzy’s “Changes” on the radio. Who would have guessed that just a few short hours later Ozzy’s passing would be announced. It’s such a sad song, and so atypical to most of Ozzy’s work. The sadness in that song always stood out to me – even the first time I heard it decades earlier. You can find a link to listen in the Oblivion cover photo.
See you on the other side, Ozzy.
