{"id":14331,"date":"2025-07-22T21:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T21:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14331\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T21:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T21:16:09","slug":"black-sabbath-singer-and-godfather-of-heavy-metal-died-at-76","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14331\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Sabbath singer and godfather of heavy metal died at 76"},"content":{"rendered":"

Either clad in black or bare-chested, the singer was often the target of parents\u2019 groups for his imagery and once caused an uproar for biting the head off a bat. Later, he would reveal himself to be a doddering and sweet father on the reality TV show The Osbournes.<\/p>\n

Black Sabbath\u2019s 1969 self-titled debut LP has been likened to the Big Bang of heavy metal. It came during the height of the Vietnam War and crashed the hippie party, dripping menace and foreboding. The cover of the record was of a spooky figure against a stark landscape. The music was loud, dense and angry, and marked a shift in rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s second album, \u201cParanoid,\u201d included such classic metal tunes as \u201cWar Pigs,\u201d \u201cIron Man\u201d and \u201cFairies Wear Boots.\u201d Both albums were voted among the top 10 greatest heavy metal albums of all time by readers of Rolling Stone magazine.<\/p>\n

The band has been widely credited as being a key influence for major acts since.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy metal. Anybody who\u2019s serious about metal will tell you it all comes down to Sabbath,\u201d Dave Navarro of the band Jane\u2019s Addiction wrote in a 2010 tribute in Rolling Stone.<\/p>\n

Sabbath sacked Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, like showing up late for rehearsals and missing gigs. \u201cWe knew we didn\u2019t really have a choice but to sack him because he was just so out of control. But we were all very down about the situation,\u201d wrote bassist Terry \u201cGeezer\u201d Butler in his memoir, \u201cInto the Void.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

Fans gathered in Birmingham weeks ago for Black Sabbath\u2019s final concert.Credit: AFP<\/p>\n

Osbourne was twice inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame \u2014 once with Sabbath in 2006 and again in 2024 as a solo artist.<\/p>\n

Despite the infamous bat episode, Osbourne later earned the adoration of animal rights activists for his promotion of certain animal welfare causes, including most recently Save the Chimps.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Osbourne has been spotted walking with a cane, often with the help of family or assistants.<\/p>\n

In 2023, he released a statement on a tour cancellation<\/a> saying \u201cin all good conscience, I have now come to the realisation that I\u2019m not physically capable of doing my upcoming European\/UK tour dates, as I know I couldn\u2019t deal with the travel required\u201d.<\/p>\n

The original Sabbath lineup reunited for the first time in 20 years in July 2025 in the UK for what Osborne said would be his final concert. \u201cLet the madness begin!\u201d he told 42,000 fans while performing in Birmingham.<\/a><\/p>\n

He later paid tribute to his supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what to say, man. I\u2019ve been laid up for like six years. You have no idea how I feel \u2013 thank you from the bottom of my heart,\u201d Osbourne said. \u201cYou\u2019re all \u2026 special. Let\u2019s go crazy, come on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Either clad in black or bare-chested, the singer was often the target of parents\u2019 groups for his imagery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-14331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}