Ozzy Osbourne — the wild, bat-biting frontman of Black Sabbath and one of the most unmistakable voices in rock — has died at 76, just weeks after what was billed as his final concert.
“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,” his family said in a statement from Birmingham, England, his hometown. “He was with his family and surrounded by love.” Osbourne had revealed in 2020 that he was living with Parkinson’s disease after a serious fall.
From the moment he growled through Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut in 1969, Ozzy was something different — dark, raw, and unapologetically loud. While the hippie movement was in full bloom, Sabbath crashed the party with heavy riffs, haunted imagery, and lyrics that felt like an omen. That album, and their follow-up Paranoid, changed the course of music forever.
Tracks like “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” and “Paranoid” didn’t just define Sabbath, they helped birth a whole genre. Metal fans still bow down to those albums, both of which landed on Rolling Stone’s all-time top 10 metal albums list.
But Ozzy’s demons followed him. By 1979, Sabbath had had enough of his out-of-control behavior (missed gigs, chaotic rehearsals, legendary drug use) and gave him the boot.
“We didn’t really have a choice,” bassist Geezer Butler wrote later. “But we were all very down about the situation.”
Ozzy wasn’t done. In true madman fashion, he roared back a year later with Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, solo records that went multi-platinum and gave us enduring headbangers like “Crazy Train” and “Flying High Again.” The man who once terrified parents across the globe was now a solo superstar.
Despite the chaos, Ozzy had a soft side too. It shined through on the hit reality show The Osbournes, where he was more goofy grandpa than satanic shaman. But the music, always the music, never left him.
Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: first with Black Sabbath in 2006, then again in 2024 as a solo act. His final show was a homecoming — 42,000 fans packed into Birmingham to watch metal royalty take his last bow. “Let the madness begin!” he shouted one last time.
That night turned into a full-blown celebration of metal. Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Rival Sons, Mastodon — the whole family showed up. Steven Tyler, Tom Morello, Billy Corgan, Travis Barker, Ronnie Wood, Sammy Hagar — even Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, hosted the gig.
Ozzy leaves behind a legacy that’s equal parts chaos and genius. A man who once bit the head off a bat on stage also bit into the soul of rock music and never let go.
With input from The AP News
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