BIRMINGHAM, England (BN24) – Ozzy Osbourne, the heavy metal legend who rose to fame as frontman of the pioneering group Black Sabbath and later became a global icon through his solo career and reality television stardom, has died at age 76, his family announced Tuesday.
“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,” the family said in a statement. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
The family’s statement did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding Osbourne’s death. The rock legend had battled Parkinson’s disease since revealing his diagnosis in 2020, a progressive movement disorder affecting the nervous system that worsens over time. His health struggles included a 2019 fall at his Los Angeles home that aggravated injuries from a 2003 all-terrain vehicle accident, leading him to postpone all performances that year and announce his retirement from touring in 2023.
Just two weeks before his death, Osbourne took the stage for what he declared would be his final performance, reuniting with the original Black Sabbath lineup for the first time in 20 years at a farewell concert in Birmingham, England. “Let the madness begin!” he told the crowd of 42,000 fans at the massive tribute show featuring performances by Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera and other metal acts.
Born John Michael Osbourne in the industrial city of Birmingham, England, the singer who became known as the “Prince of Darkness” helped create the template for heavy metal music when Black Sabbath formed in the late 1960s. The band’s 1970 self-titled debut album has been called the Big Bang of heavy metal, arriving during the height of the Vietnam War with a sound that crashed the hippie party with menace and foreboding.
Black Sabbath’s impact on rock music cannot be overstated. The band’s second album, “Paranoid,” included such classic metal anthems as “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Fairies Wear Boots.” Both albums were voted among the top 10 greatest heavy metal albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine readers. Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction wrote in a 2010 Rolling Stone tribute that “Black Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy metal. Anybody who’s serious about metal will tell you it all comes down to Sabbath.”
The music was built on industrial guitar riffs and disorienting changes in time signatures, paired with lyrics that spoke of alienation and doom. As The Guardian newspaper observed in 2009, the band “introduced working-class anger, stoner sludge grooves and witchy horror-rock to flower power” and “along with Altamont and Charles Manson, almost certainly helped kill off the hippy counterculture.”
Black Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 due to his legendary excesses, including showing up late for rehearsals and missing performances entirely. Bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler wrote in his memoir “Into the Void” that “we knew we didn’t really have a choice but to sack him because he was just so out of control.”
Osbourne’s solo career proved even more successful than his time with Sabbath. He reemerged in 1980 with “Blizzard of Ozz” and 1981’s “Diary of a Madman,” both hard rock classics that achieved multi-platinum status and spawned enduring favorites including “Crazy Train,” “Goodbye to Romance,” “Flying High Again” and “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll.” His ability to discover talented guitarists became legendary, working with brilliant innovators like Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde throughout his career.
Rhoads, who played on Osbourne’s finest solo albums, was killed in a freak plane accident in 1982. Osbourne released the live album “Tribute” in 1987 in his memory, cementing Rhoads’ legacy as one of metal’s greatest guitarists.
Throughout his career, Osbourne embodied the excesses and controversies that defined heavy metal culture. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo in 1982, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk, and most memorably, biting the head off a live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert. He later said he thought the bat was rubber.
The Alamo acknowledged Osbourne’s passing Tuesday with a Facebook statement noting that while his 1982 incident “profoundly and rightfully upset many who hold this site sacred,” redemption became part of his story when he personally apologized in 1992 and later visited the grounds in 2015 to learn about its history, “openly demonstrating humility and understanding.”
Osbourne faced significant controversy throughout his career, including a 1987 lawsuit from parents of a teenager who died by suicide while listening to “Suicide Solution.” The case was dismissed, with Osbourne explaining the song addressed the dangers of alcohol following the death of his friend Bon Scott, AC/DC’s lead singer. Then-Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York claimed in 1990 that Osbourne’s songs led to demonic possession and suicide, prompting the singer to respond: “You are ignorant about the true meaning of my songs. You have also insulted the intelligence of rock fans all over the world.”
Despite his dark imagery and Satan-invoking persona, Osbourne typically sent crowds home with a hearty “God bless!” His look remained consistent throughout his career, featuring long flat hair, heavy black eye makeup, round glasses, and often wearing a cross around his neck.
After being rejected from Lollapalooza’s lineup, Osbourne created Ozzfest in 1996, an annual touring festival that became a launching pad for bands including Slipknot, Tool, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.
A different side of Osbourne emerged through MTV’s reality show “The Osbournes,” which ran from 2002 to 2005. The program revealed this self-proclaimed madman as a doddering, sweet father drinking Diet Cokes while struggling with satellite television and warning his children not to smoke or drink. The show made him a household name beyond the metal community and earned him a new generation of fans.
Later television appearances included the travel show “Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour,” where he and son Jack visited American landmarks including Mount Rushmore and Space Center Houston. In 2014, scientists honored him by naming a newly discovered Amazon bat frog Dendropsophus ozzyi, noting its high-pitched, batlike calls.
Osbourne’s music career experienced a renaissance in his later years. His 2020 album “Ordinary Man” featured a title track duet with Elton John, with lyrics reflecting on mortality: “I’ve been a bad guy, been higher than the blue sky/And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man.” His 2022 album “Patient Number 9” featured collaborations with guitar legends Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan, earning four Grammy nominations and producing his first career back-to-back number one rock radio singles.
The rock legend was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, first with Black Sabbath in 2006 and again as a solo artist in 2024. At the 2024 ceremony, actor Jack Black called him “the greatest frontman in the history of rock and roll” and “the Jack Nicholson of rock.”
Osbourne married Thelma Riley in 1971, adopting her son Elliot Kingsley and having two more children, Jessica and Louis. He later met Sharon Arden in Los Angeles, where she was working in her father’s concert promotion business. Despite an inauspicious first meeting when she came to collect money he had spent on drugs, they married in 1982 and had three children together: Kelly, Aimee and Jack. Their relationship endured periodic separations and reconciliations throughout their decades-long marriage.
Music world tributes poured in following news of Osbourne’s death. Black Sabbath guitarist and co-founder Tony Iommi wrote on social media: “I just can’t believe it! My dear dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park. It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words, there won’t ever be another like him.”
Bassist Geezer Butler added: “Goodbye dear friend – thanks for all those years – we had some great fun. 4 kids from Aston- who’d have thought, eh? So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston.”
Elton John described Osbourne as “a dear friend and a huge trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods – a true legend. He was also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.”
Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons called Osbourne “a giant” who was “admired and loved by millions of fans worldwide.”
Osbourne is survived by his wife Sharon and his six children. His legacy as the godfather of heavy metal and one of rock music’s most enduring and influential figures remains unquestioned, having inspired countless musicians and defined a genre that continues to evolve decades after Black Sabbath’s groundbreaking debut.
