NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 There are pioneering music figures, and then there is Ozzy Osbourne, the larger-than-life frontman of Black Sabbath, whose personal mythology is eclipsed only by the strength and immortality of his songs.<\/p>\n
A godfather and force of heavy metal, Osbourne died<\/a> Tuesday at 76, just weeks after his last performance.<\/p>\n The English icon\u2019s<\/a> idiosyncratic, throaty voice launched generations of metalheads, both through his work at the reins of Black Sabbath and in his solo career. Across his repertoire, there are songs with total global ubiquity and lesser-known innovations with his unique, spooky aesthetic quality.<\/p>\n To celebrate Osbourne\u2019s life and legacy, we\u2019ve selected just a few songs that made the man, from timeless tunes to a few left-of-center selections.<\/p>\n Read on and then listen to all of the tracks on our Spotify playlist.<\/a><\/p>\n It would be a challenge to name a more immediately recognizable guitar riff than the one that launches Black Sabbath\u2019s<\/a> 1970 megahit \u201cIron Man.\u201d It transcends the metal genre \u2014 an all-timer heard around the world and in guitar stores everywhere.<\/p>\n One of the great Vietnam War protest songs,<\/a> Black Sabbath\u2019s \u201cWar Pigs\u201d is a rare moment where hippies and metalheads can agree: \u201cPoliticians hide themselves away \/ They only started the war \/ Why should they go out to fight?\u201d Osbourne sings in the bridge.<\/p>\n Osbourne\u2019s heaviest performances are at least partially indebted to Black Sabbath\u2019s bassist and lyricist Terry \u201cGeezer\u201d Butler, and there is perhaps no better example than \u201cChildren of the Grave,\u201d the single from the band\u2019s 1971 album, \u201cMaster of Reality.\u201d \u201cMust the world live in the shadow of atomic fear?\u201d Osbourne embodies Butler\u2019s words, a sonic fist lifted in the air. \u201cCan they win the fight for peace or will they disappear?\u201d<\/p>\n Black Sabbath were in a creative rut in the time period leading up to \u201cSabbath Bloody Sabbath,\u201d the opening track from their 1973 album of the same name. It\u2019s almost hard to believe now \u2014 the song features one of their best-known riffs, and its chorus features some truly ascendant vocals.<\/p>\n Would the world know what a vibraslap<\/a> sounds like without the immediately recognizable introduction to Osbourne\u2019s first solo single, \u201cCrazy Train?\u201d To call it a classic is almost a disservice \u2014 it is an addicting tune, complete with chugging guitars and Cold War-era fears.<\/p>\n Another classic cut from Osbourne\u2019s debut solo album, \u201cBlizzard Of Ozz\u201d \u2014 released one year after Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath for his legendary excesses, \u2014 the arena rock anthem \u201cMr. Crowley\u201d pays tribute to the famed English occultist Aleister Crowley and features Deep Purple\u2019s Don Airey<\/a> on keyboard.<\/p>\n The title track and coda of Osbourne\u2019s second solo studio album, \u201cDiary of a Madman,\u201d runs over six minutes long, features big strings and a choir so theatrical it sounds like they\u2019re scoring a medieval war film. He wanted big, he wanted dramatic, and he nailed it.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be inaccurate to call \u201cMama, I\u2019m Coming Home\u201d a beautiful-sounding song. It\u2019s unlike anything on this list, a power ballad featuring lyrics written by the late Mot\u00f6rhead frontman Lemmy<\/a> and a welcomed deviation.<\/p>\n 1992: \u201cI,\u201d<\/a> Black Sabbath<\/p>\n When Black Sabbath comes to mind, most fans jump to an unimpeachable run of albums released in the \u201870s and early \u201980s. But \u201cI,\u201d a cut from Black Sabbath\u2019s too often overlooked 16th studio album, \u201cDehumanizer,\u201d is worth your ear. And not only because it is the first Sabbath album to feature singer Ronnie James Dio<\/a> and drummer Vinny Appice since 1981\u2019s \u201cMob Rules,\u201d though that\u2019s an obvious plus.<\/p>\n 2019: \u201cTake What You Want,\u201d<\/a> Post Malone with Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott<\/p>\n Late in life Ozzy Osbourne was generous with his time and talent, often collaborating with younger performers who idolized the metal legend. One such example is Post Malone\u2019s<\/a> \u201cTake What You Want,\u201d which also features the rapper Travis Scott.<\/a> Osbourne gives the song a necessary gothic edge \u2014 validating the otherwise balladic song\u2019s use of a sprightly guitar solo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 There are pioneering music figures, and then there is Ozzy Osbourne, the larger-than-life frontman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2724,25976,25979,88,793,25977,216,90,25978,706,25980,965],"class_list":["post-30951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-associated-press","tag-classical-music","tag-don-airey","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-hip-hop-and-rap","tag-music","tag-ozzy-osbourne","tag-post-malone","tag-travis-scott","tag-vinny-appice","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}