Born John Michael Osbourne on Dec. 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Ozzy Osbourne, founding father of heavy metal, passed away Tuesday July 22 after a struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
Ozzy’s family announced his death by releasing a statement that reads: “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.”
Ozzy just performed a couple weeks ago at his farewell festival “Back to the Beginning,” which took place in his and the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England. It was a massive tribute featuring such legends as Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice in Chains paying tribute to the Prince of Darkness.
You can read our article about it here:
From 1969-79, Ozzy fronted Black Sabbath, “which codified the bottom-heavy, churning sound and lyrical demonology that would course through dozens of metal bands to come” according to Variety.
In 1980 Ozzy released his first solo album “Blizzard of Ozz,” containing his trademark song, “Crazy Train” that was a huge hit. He toured and recorded relentlessly as a solo act selling over 55 million albums worldwide. His stage presence and ability to connect with fans were a major part of this success. Also, his penchant for choosing legendary guitar players to work along side him like Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde.
He was also no stranger to controversy as many remember him for biting the head off a bat, peeing on the Alamo, snorting ants and other antics.
His popularity continued into the 1990s when he and his wife and manager Sharon Osbourne created Ozzfest, which became one of the biggest concert attractions of the ‘90s and boasted legendary lineups of support acts, and also helped to launch the careers of many rock and metal artists.
Osbourne had another burst of fame in a very surprising way as a reality TV star in the early new millennium as the oftentimes hard to decipher patriarch of “The Osbournes,” an MTV reality series that focused on the rock star’s home life.
It is hard to even describe the impact on metal music that Ozzy Osborne has had over the years. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkin’s thoughts, that he mentioned just recently to the New York Times (since he was a part of the Back to the Beginning concert), sum up how many musicians and metalheads feel: “I first heard Black Sabbath’s ‘Master of Reality’ when I was 8 years old and have been chasing that sound as a musician ever since. What drew me to them was this sense of cosmic ennui and a shadowy warmth that is only theirs.”
It is hard to imagine the metal world without Ozzy Osbourne in it and it will most definitely never be the same.
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