07/23/2025
As Ozzy so eloquently said, The Beatles turned the world to color. Just as he turned it black for millions of heavy metal fans throughout the world. He was the home of heavy metal. Best known as the frontman of ‘Black Sabbath’, he was born on December 3rd, 1948 in Birmingham, England. He rose to prominence with hits such as “Paranoid”, “Iron Man”, and “War Pigs”, cementing Heavy Metal as a genre and him as it’s prince.
In 1979, he was fired from ‘Black Sabbath’ due to his excessive abuse of drugs and alcohol. He was replaced by Ronnie James Dio. Ozzy would later go on to say that he felt betrayed by the band’s decision, as he felt they were all struggling with substance abuse at the time and he was the fall guy. The band would reunite in 1998 with the release of the album ‘Reunion’. They received their first Grammy award for the song ‘Iron Man’ at the 2000 awards.
In 1979, Ozzy went on to launch his own successful solo venture. He released 13 studio albums over the length of his career, managed by his wife, Sharon. These albums included ‘Blizard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman” which featured iconic tracks such as “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley.” He was known for his crazy stage antics with infamous moments like biting the head off of a bat. Moments such as these would endure him to his fans as a symbol of rock rebellion.
In 1996, Sharon and Ozzy started the music festival, OzzFest. It was originally started as a solution to Ozzy being rejected from more mainstream festivals such as Lalapalooza. It quickly grew into one of the most iconic and influential heavy metal touring festivals in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans each year.
Later on in his career, he would endear himself to a new generation with his families MTV reality show, ‘The Osbournes’. Just as he was a pioneer in heavy metal, he was also considered a pioneer in this new genre of television. Getting a peak into the other side of ‘The Prince of Darkness’, one that was quirky, soft, loving, and fatherly, made the show a breakout success . It would become the blueprint for many other successful reality shows throughout the years.
Ozzy faced numerous, serious health issues over the years. In 2003, while filming his reality show, he suffered an ATV accident that left him with serious neck and spinal injuries that nearly killed him and, worsened over time. He battled multiple staph infections, and, respiratory issues including bronchitis and pneumonia. A severe bout of the latter lead to him canceling his tour in 2019.
In 2020, Osborne revealed that he was diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s called Parkin 2. It is a genetic variation of the disease that affects the nervous system. He received the diagnosis a bit after a serious fall at his home in 2019. Unfortunately, the combined effects of recovering from the fall along with the symptoms of Parkinson’s lead to him cancelling several tour dates and to postpone his farewell tour many times.
Despite all the health challenges, Ozzy always faced them with a healthy dose of determination and humor, while also showing a vulnerability that further endeared him to his millions of fans. He continued to record music, and credits it with keeping him going. He’s sold over 100 million records, is one of a handful of other artists that has had a top 10 album in the last 6 decades, was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame as cofounder of ‘Black Sabbath’, won 3 Grammy awards, along with numerous other many other achievements.
On July 5th, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, his home town, he finally performed his last show in front of an audience of 40,000 adoring fans. Although age and disease had taken its toll, he sat in his heavy metal thrown and gave an emotional and heartfelt performance, sitting underneath none other than a bat. He reunited with the original ‘Black Sabbath’ lineup for the first time in 20 years, performing 9 songs that, for a moment, truly did bring it ‘back to the beginning’.
They played sabbath classics such as ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Iron Man’, to Osbournes own hits including ‘Mr. Crowley’ and ‘Crazy Train’, the closer. The pen ultimate song was ‘Mama I’m coming Home, my personal favorite of his. He is a man who will be remembered as much for his music and his crazy lifestyle as he will be a family man and a legend.
On July 22, he passed away, “surrounded by love”, after his lengthy battle with Parkinson’s. His family, including his son Jack, along with his son from his first marriage, Louis Osbourne, his daughters Aimee & Kelly and his wife, Sharon, released a statement announcing his passing:
"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time."
He left an indelible mark on music, television, and the hearts of millions and millions of fans. He touched multiple generations with his personality and his art. He was a dichotomy, in the greatest sense of the word.
I’ll let Ozzy close it out in his own words: “Yes, I’m the crazy rock’n’roller who bit the head off a bat and pi**ed on the Alamo, but I also have a son who likes to mess around with the settings on my telly, so when I make myself a nice pot of tea, put my feet up, and try to watch a programme on the History Channel, I can’t get the f**king thing to work. That kind of stuff blew people’s minds. I think they had this idea in their heads that when I wasn’t being arrested for public intoxication, I went to a cave and hung upside down, drinking snakes’ blood. But I’m like Coco the Clown, me: at the end of the day, I come home, take off my greasepaint and my big red nose, and become Dad.”
