22/07/2025
Breaking: Ozzy Osbourne has died aged 76
Legendary heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has died, just weeks after reuniting with his Black Sabbath bandmates for a final emotional performance at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Born John Michael Osbourne on 3 December 1948 in Marston Green and raised in Aston, Birmingham, Ozzy was one of six children.
His mother worked at a Lucas factory, and his father was a toolmaker who did night shifts at GEC. They lived in a modest two-bedroom home on Lodge Road.
He faced challenges early in life, struggling with dyslexia and enduring bullying and abuse at school. He left school at 15 and took on a series of working-class jobs: construction labourer, slaughterhouse worker, even a horn-tuner at a car factory. At 17, he spent time in Winson Green Prison after a failed robbery—a stint his father let happen to teach him a lesson.
Yet everything changed when he heard The Beatles’ She Loves You. It was a revelation. He later said that song made him realise: “I was going to be a rock star for the rest of my life.”
Ozzy Osbourne is survived by his wife Sharon, their children Aimee, Kelly and Jack, as well as Jessica and Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley, and several grandchildren.
From Aston to the world stage, Ozzy Osbourne never forgot where he came from, and the world will never forget him. A working-class hero, a rock legend, and an unstoppable force of music, madness and magic.
In a statement, his family said:
"It is with more sadness than words can express that we announce the passing of our beloved Ozzy Osbourne this morning. He was surrounded by his family and held in love."
At what would become his final live performance earlier this month, Osbourne took to the stage seated on a throne, addressing thousands of fans:
"You've no idea how I feel—thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The farewell gig was a celebration of his career, with appearances from some of his favourite bands, including Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. It marked a full-circle moment for the Birmingham-born singer, whose journey from working-class Aston lad to global rock legend reshaped the sound of modern music.
Ozzy rose to fame as the frontman of Black Sabbath, pioneers of heavy metal whose brooding riffs and raw lyrics defined a generation. Later, he carved out a hugely successful solo career with hits like Crazy Train, Bark at the Moon, and Changes, while Sabbath classics like Paranoid, Iron Man, and War Pigs became enduring anthems of rebellion.
In the 2000s, he reached a new audience through MTV’s The Osbournes, a fly-on-the-wall reality show that captured the chaos and affection of life with wife Sharon and their children, Kelly and Jack. His humour, vulnerability, and unfiltered charm won him a different kind of fame.
He was also a man of myth and mayhem, his rock star excesses becoming the stuff of legend. Most infamously, he once bit the head off a bat on stage, a story that followed him for the rest of his life.
In recent years, Osbourne faced serious health challenges. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dealing with complications from a 2019 fall, he was forced to cancel many tour dates. But in 2022, he stunned fans with a surprise appearance at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, belting out Paranoid in Birmingham, proving the Prince of Darkness still had fire in his soul.
Sharon Osbourne announced the Villa Park farewell earlier this year, saying he was determined to give his fans a proper goodbye. It was to be his "final bow"—a poignant, defiant act of love for the audience that had stood by him for decades.
Throughout his career, Ozzy was inducted into both the UK Music Hall of Fame and the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath. He received five Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and another on Birmingham’s Broad Street. He was also honoured with an Ivor Novello Award and named NME’s Godlike Genius.
For a working-class kid, he did more than okay. He changed music forever.
He will be deeply missed.
