{"id":17159,"date":"2025-07-23T04:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T04:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17159\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T04:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T04:42:09","slug":"ozzy-osbourne-who-led-black-sabbath-and-became-the-godfather-of-heavy-metal-dies-at-76-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17159\/","title":{"rendered":"Ozzy Osbourne, who led Black Sabbath and became the godfather of heavy metal, dies at 76"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice \u2014 and drug-and-alcohol ravaged id \u2014 of heavy metal, died Tuesday, just weeks after his farewell show. He was 76.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d a family statement from Birmingham, England, said. In 2020, he revealed he had Parkinson\u2019s disease after suffering a fall.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

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 \u201cThe Osbournes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Big Bang of heavy metal<\/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 \u2019n\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 The song \u201cParanoid\u201d only reached No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 but became in many ways the band\u2019s signature song. Both albums were voted among the top 10 greatest heavy metal albums of all time by readers of Rolling Stone magazine.<\/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. \u201cThere\u2019s a direct line you can draw back from today\u2019s metal, through Eighties bands like Iron Maiden, back to Sabbath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabbath fired 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

Osbourne reemerged the next year as a solo artist with \u201cBlizzard of Ozz\u201d and the following year\u2019s \u201cDiary of a Madman,\u201d both hard rock classics that went multiplatinum and spawned enduring favorites such as \u201cCrazy Train,\u201d \u201cGoodbye to Romance,\u201d \u201cFlying High Again\u201d and \u201cYou Can\u2019t Kill Rock and Roll.\u201d 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

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

Metallica, Guns N Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon all did sets. Tom Morello, Aerosmith\u2019s Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, Ronnie Wood, Travis Barker, Sammy Hagar and more made appearances. Actor Jason Momoa was the host for the festivities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Sabbath: we\u2019d all be different people without them, that\u2019s the truth,\u201d said Pantera singer Phil Anselmo. \u201cI know I wouldn\u2019t be up here with a microphone in my hand without Black Sabbath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outlandish exploits and a classic look<\/p>\n

Osbourne embodied the excesses of metal. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably, biting the head off the live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert. (He said he thought it was rubber.)<\/p>\n

Osbourne was sued in 1987 by parents of a 19-year-old teen who died by suicide while listening to his song \u201cSuicide Solution.\u201d The lawsuit was dismissed. Osbourne said the song was really about the dangers of alcohol, which caused the death of his friend Bon Scott, lead singer of AC\/DC.<\/p>\n

Then-Cardinal John J. O\u2019Connor of New York claimed in 1990 that Osbourne\u2019s songs led to demonic possession and even suicide. \u201cYou are ignorant about the true meaning of my songs,\u201d the singer wrote back. \u201cYou have also insulted the intelligence of rock fans all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audiences at Osbourne shows could be mooned or spit on by the singer. They would often be hectored to scream along with the song, but the Satan-invoking Osbourne would usually send the crowds home with their ears ringing and a hearty \u201cGod bless!\u201d<\/p>\n

He started an annual tour \u2014 Ozzfest \u2014 in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what was then the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza. Ozzfest has gone on to host such bands as Slipknot, Tool, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.<\/p>\n

Osbourne\u2019s look changed little over his life. He wore his long hair flat, heavy black eye makeup and round glasses, often wearing a cross around his neck. In 2013, he reunited with Black Sabbath for the dour, raw \u201c13,\u201d which reached No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and peaked at No. 86 on the U.S. Billboard 200. In 2019, he had a Top 10 hit when featured on Post Malone\u2019s \u201cTake What You Want,\u201d Osbourne\u2019s first song in the Top 10 since 1989.<\/p>\n

In 2020, he released the album \u201cOrdinary Man,\u201d which had as its title song a duet with Elton John. \u201cI\u2019ve been a bad guy, been higher than the blue sky\/And the truth is I don\u2019t wanna die an ordinary man,\u201d he sang. In 2022, he landed his first career back-to-back No. 1 rock radio singles from his album \u201cPatient Number 9,\u201d which featured collaborations with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan. It earned four Grammy nominations, winning two. (Osbourne won five Grammys over his lifetime.)<\/p>\n

At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2024, Jack Black called him \u201cgreatest frontman in the history of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll\u201d and \u201cthe Jack Nicholson of rock.\u201d Osbourne thanked his fans, his guitarist Randy Rhoads and his longtime wife, Sharon.<\/p>\n

The beginnings of Black Sabbath<\/p>\n

John Michael Osbourne was raised in the gritty city of Birmingham. Kids in school nicknamed him Ozzy, short for his surname. As a boy, he loved the Four Seasons, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The Beatles made a huge impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came from Liverpool, which was approximately 60 miles north of where I come from,\u201d he told Billboard. \u201cSo all of a sudden it was in my grasp, but I never thought it would be as successful as it became.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s, Osbourne had teamed up with Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward as the Polka Tulk Blues Band. They decided to rename the band Earth, but found to their dismay there was another band with that name. So they changed the name to the American title of the classic Italian horror movie \u201cI Tre Volti Della Paura,\u201d starring Boris Karloff: Black Sabbath.<\/p>\n

Once they found their sludgy, ominous groove, the band was productive, putting out their self-titled debut and \u201cParanoid\u201d in 1970, \u201cMaster of Reality\u201d in 1971, \u201cVol. 4\u201d in 1972 and \u201cSabbath Bloody Sabbath\u201d in 1973.<\/p>\n

The music was all about industrial guitar riffs and disorienting changes in time signatures, along with lyrics that spoke of alienation and doom. \u201cPeople think I\u2019m insane because I am frowning all the time,\u201d Osbourne sang in one song. \u201cAll day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy\/Think I\u2019ll lose my mind if I don\u2019t find something to pacify.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian newspaper in 2009 said the band \u201cintroduced working-class anger, stoner sludge grooves and witchy horror-rock to flower power. Black Sabbath confronted the empty platitudes of the 1960s and, along with Altamont and Charles Manson, almost certainly helped kill off the hippy counterculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Sabbath, Osbourne had an uncanny knack for calling some of the most creative young guitarists to his side. When he went solo, he hired the brilliant innovator Rhoads, who played on two of Osbourne\u2019s finest solo albums, \u201cBlizzard of Ozz\u201d and \u201cDiary of a Madman.\u201d Rhoads was killed in a freak plane accident in 1982; Osbourne released the live album \u201cTribute\u201d in 1987 in his memory.<\/p>\n

Osbourne then signed Jake E. Lee, who lent his talents to the platinum albums \u201cBark at the Moon\u201d and \u201cThe Ultimate Sin.\u201d Hotshot Zakk Wylde joined Osbourne\u2019s band for \u201cNo Rest for the Wicked\u201d and the multiplatinum \u201cNo More Tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come along, they sprout wings, they blossom, and they fly off,\u201d Osbourne said of his players in 1995 to The Associated Press. \u201cBut I have to move on. To get a new player now and again boosts me on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courting controversy \u2014 and wholesomeness<\/p>\n

Whomever he was playing with, Osbourne wasn\u2019t likely to back down from controversy. He had the last laugh when the TV evangelist the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart in 1986 lambasted various rock groups and rock magazines as \u201cthe new pornography,\u201d prompting some retailers to pull Osbourne\u2019s album.<\/p>\n

When Swaggart later was caught with a sex worker in 1988, Osbourne put out the song \u201cMiracle Man\u201d about his foe: \u201cMiracle man got busted\/miracle man got busted,\u201d he sang. \u201cToday I saw a Miracle Man, on TV cryin\u2019\/Such a hypocritical man, born again, dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much later, a whole new Osbourne would be revealed when \u201cThe Osbournes,\u201d which ran on MTV from 2002-2005, showed this one-time self-proclaimed madman drinking Diet Cokes as he struggled to find the History Channel on his new satellite television or warning his kids not to smoke or drink before they embarked on a night on the town.<\/p>\n

Later, he and his son Jack toured America on the travel show \u201cOzzy & Jack\u2019s World Detour,\u201d where the pair visited such places as Mount Rushmore and the Space Center Houston. Osbourne was honored in 2014 with the naming of a bat frog found in the Amazon that makes high-pitched, batlike calls. It was dubbed Dendropsophus ozzyi.<\/p>\n

He also met Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee weekend. He was standing next to singer-actor Cliff Richard. \u201cShe took one look at the two of us, said \u2018Oh, so this is what they call variety, is it?\u2019 then cracked up laughing. I honestly thought that Sharon had slipped some acid into my cornflakes that morning,\u201d he wrote in \u201cI Am Ozzy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thelma Riley and Osbourne married in 1971; Osbourne adopted her son Elliot Kingsley, and they had two more children, Jessica and Louis. Osbourne later met Sharon, who became her own celebrity persona, when she was running her father\u2019s Los Angeles office. Her father was Don Arden, a top concert promoter and artist manager. She went to Osbourne\u2019s hotel in Los Angeles to collect money, which Osbourne had spent on drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe says she\u2019ll come back in three days and I\u2019d better have it. I\u2019d always fancied her and I thought, \u2018Ah, she\u2019s coming back! Maybe I have a chance.\u2019 I had pizza hanging from my hair, cigarette ashes on my shirt,\u201d he told the Los Angeles Times in 2000. They married in 1982, had three children \u2014 Kelly, Aimee and Jack \u2014 and endured periodic separations and reconciliations.<\/p>\n

He is survived by Sharon, and his children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-17159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}