Ozzy Osbourne’s “Prince of Darkness” dies at 76
The heavy metal icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame left his mark in a 60-year music career.
The opening of “Crazy Train” from the iconic “All Aboird!” to his “Sharon!” after a while! “Ozzy Osbourne had one of the most recognised bellows in modern history.
The Grammy-winning Prince of Darkness and the legendary locker passed away a few weeks after reuniting with Black Sabbath for his final show in the UK. He was 76 years old.
A family statement shared with USA Today said Osborne died Tuesday morning in Birmingham, England, “surrounded by love.”
“It brings more sadness than mere words to be able to tell us that our beloved Ozzy has passed away this morning,” the statement read. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect the privacy of our family at this time.”
He leaves his wife, Sharon Osborne, for over 40 years, and daughters Jessica, Amy and Kelly, and sons Elliot, Louis and Jack.
Osborne was one of the most iconic figures in the rock, shaping the sounds and perceptions of heavy metals with his unique voice and shocking attitude. He is well known for chasing Rock’s Zenith in his reality TV career and biting his head from a bat on stage, like he’s having an argument at home with his wife and children.
Born in Birmingham, England on December 3, 1948, John Michael Osborne was first in the spotlight for over 50 years as a member of Black Sabbath after being kicked out of the group in 1979 due to drug and alcohol addiction.
He was later reunited with Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath was reunited with bands who helped bring heavy metal to the public, including a 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show and a farewell show from “Back to the Beginning” on July 5th in his hometown.
“It takes time to become Ozzy,” Osbourne told USA Today in 2013.
Ozzy Osbourne goes from working class to rock superstar
Osborne was born into a working class family. Growing up, he was diagnosed with dyslexia and later dropped out of school at the age of 15. He was arrested for several thefts and did some hennial gigs before spending some time in prison. Once released, he turned to music as a salvation, first erupting with Black Sabbath in the late 60s.
His first solo album, “Blizzard of Ozz,” was dropped in 1980. It ranked number 9 on the list of some of Osborne’s most memorable works with guitarist Randy Rhoades, including “Crazy Train,” and Rolling Stone, the best 100 metal albums of all time.
It was followed by 12 more studio albums, including hits such as “No Lest for the Wicked” in 1988, and “No More Tears” in 1991, “No More Tears” in No More Tears, and “Miracle Man” in “I’m Coming Home.”
His penultimate album, “The Ordinary Man,” from the 2020s, was the first to be calm and finished, Osborne told Apple Music. It featured collaborations with Elton John, Guns N’ Rose guitarist Slash, and Post Malone. Brian Alexander of USA Today said “it was filled with lyrics worthy of his prince’s dark moniker. The song deals with death (to the deathbed moment), his past drug use and regret.”
“I thought it was medicine and alcohol that all worked,” Osborne said. “But that’s not true. All I’ve been doing for years is self-medicine, as I didn’t like the way I felt. But this is the first album I co-written and recorded (expletive) completely calm… the last album, I wrote it.”
His last album, “Patient Number 9,” was dropped in September 2022, winning a Grammy nomination trio. The best rock song for “Patient Number 9.” Perfect lock performance for “Patient Number 9”. And victory for the best metal performance for the “decomposition rules”.
Ozzy Osbourne was one of the most famous troublemakers in rock.
Osborne’s battle with addiction led to an infamous moment in music history. He bit his head from a pigeon at a 1981 meeting with a Los Angeles record executive, and the following year he stumbled on a live bat during a show in Des Moines. Osborne said he thought the bat was a fake but was later treated for rabies as a precaution. In 2019, Osborne celebrated the opportunity by selling stuffed animals. It sold out within a few hours.
The Prince of Darkness was placed in prison in 1982 to urinate the Alamo Senotaff, built in 1939 to honor the 189 Texans who died in a historic site in San Antonio in 1939. He was then banned from playing in the city of Alamo for 10 years.
That same year, Locker married Sharon after splitting from his first wife, Thelma. Their union was often intense, but included at least one short separation, but Sharon remained a solid advocate for Osborne.
Sharon also founded Ozfest in 1996 after Osborne was rejected by Lollapalooza. It lasted almost every year until 2018, and was one of the most popular hard rock music festivals in the country.
Ozzy Osbourne was opened about his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
In addition to his long and renowned musical career, Osborne has evolved into an unlikely television star. The reality show “Osborns” has been airing on MTV for four seasons since 2002. The show craced her daughter Amy with humor, following her daughter Amy, who refused to participate, through an exploit that often appears to have been made entirely on reality television.
Following “The Osbournes,” Sharon later held a short-lived syndicated talk show, followed by a stint for CBS’s “The Talk.” Her husband and family were frequently discussed topics.
Ozzy Osbourne was diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s disease in 2019. This was diagnosed after seeing a bad fall in “screwing all the vertebrae” in his neck, leading to the cancellation of his tour in Europe. Osborne kept his struggle private, but ultimately wanted to share it with his fans.
“I’m not good at secrets, I can’t walk around it anymore,” he told ABC’s January 2020 interview with Good Morning America. “I feel better now that I own the fact that there is a case of Parkinson’s disease.”
He had spinal surgery in the summer of 2020 and said he wanted to return to stage soon after the coronavirus pandemic passed.
It’ll take some time, but Osborne ultimately found his way back to the stage for several live performances, including a football game in the 2022 Los Angeles Rams season opening game.
Less than two weeks after his death, a new memoir from Osbourne, called “Last Rites” was released (October 7th was released by Grand Central Publishing Group). The publisher says it is “a shocking, terribly hilarious, unprecedented story of Osborn’s descent into hell.”
In the book, Osborne said, “When tomorrow is over, I can’t complain. I was in the world. I saw a lot. I did good things…and I did bad things. But now I’m not ready to go anywhere.”
Contribution: Gary Dinges
