Ozzy Osbourne, godfather of heavy steel who led Black Sabbath, dies at 76

Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who grew to become the throaty, growling voice — and drug-and-alcohol ravaged id — of heavy steel, died on Tuesday (July 22, 2025), simply weeks after his farewell present. He was 76.

Both clad in black or bare-chested, the singer was usually the goal of oldsters’ teams for his imagery and as soon as brought about an uproar for biting the pinnacle off a bat. Later, he would reveal himself to be a doddering and candy father on the truth TV present “The Osbournes.”

Black Sabbath’s 1969 self-titled debut LP has been likened to the Huge Bang of heavy steel. It got here in the course of the top of the Vietnam Warfare and crashed the hippie celebration, dripping menace and foreboding.

The band’s second album, “Paranoid,” included such basic tunes as “Warfare Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Fairies Put on Boots.” The music “Paranoid” solely reached No. 61 on the Billboard Scorching 100 however grew to become in some ways the band’s signature music. Each albums have been voted among the many high 10 best heavy steel albums of all time by readers of Rolling Stone journal.

“Black Sabbath are the Beatles of heavy steel. Anyone who’s critical about steel will inform you all of it comes right down to Sabbath,” Dave Navarro of the band Jane’s Dependancy wrote in a 2010 tribute in Rolling Stone.

Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, like exhibiting up late for rehearsals and lacking gigs. He reemerged the following 12 months as a solo artist with “Blizzard of Ozz” and the next 12 months’s “Diary of a Madman,” each arduous rock classics that went multi-platinum and spawned enduring favorites akin to “Loopy Practice,” “Goodbye to Romance,” “Flying Excessive Once more” and “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll.” Osbourne was twice inducted to the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame — as soon as with Sabbath in 2006 and once more in 2024 as a solo artist.

The unique Sabbath lineup reunited for the primary time in 20 years in July 2025 within the U.Okay. for what Osbourne stated was his ultimate live performance. “Let the insanity start!” he informed 42,000 followers.

Metallica, Weapons N Roses, Slayer, Instrument, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon did units. Tom Morello, Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, Ronnie Wooden, Travis Barker, Sammy Hagar, Yungblud and Vernon Reid made appearances.

Osbourne embodied the excesses of steel. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably, biting the pinnacle off a reside bat {that a} fan threw onstage throughout a 1981 live performance. (He stated he thought it was rubber.)

Osbourne was sued in 1987 by mother and father of a 19-year-old teen who died by suicide whereas listening to his music “Suicide Answer.” The lawsuit was dismissed. Osbourne stated the music was actually concerning the risks of alcohol, which brought about the demise of his buddy Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC.

Then-Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York claimed in 1990 that Osbourne’s songs led to demonic possession and even suicide. “You’re ignorant concerning the true which means of my songs,” the singer wrote again. “You will have additionally insulted the intelligence of rock followers everywhere in the world.”

Audiences at Osbourne reveals could possibly be mooned or spit on by the singer, however the Devil-invoking Osbourne would often ship the crowds house with their ears ringing and a hearty “God bless!”

He began an annual tour — Ozzfest — in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what was then the highest touring music pageant, Lollapalooza. Ozzfest would host such bands as Slipknot, Instrument, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

In 2013, he reunited with Black Sabbath for the dour, uncooked “13,” which reached No. 1 on the U.Okay. Albums Chart. In 2019, he had a High 10 hit when featured on Publish Malone’s “Take What You Need,” Osbourne’s first music within the High 10 since 1989.

In 2020, he launched the album “Strange Man,” which had as its title music a duet with Elton John. “I’ve been a nasty man, been greater than the blue sky/And the reality is I don’t wanna die an unusual man,” he sang. In 2022, he landed his first profession back-to-back No. 1 rock radio singles from his album “Affected person Quantity 9,” which featured collaborations with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan. t earned 4 Grammy nominations, successful two. (Osbourne gained 5 Grammys over his lifetime.)

On the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame induction ceremony in 2024, Jack Black referred to as him “best frontman within the historical past of rock ‘n’ roll” and “the Jack Nicholson of rock.”

John Michael Osbourne was raised within the gritty metropolis of Birmingham, England. Youngsters in class nicknamed him Ozzy, brief for his surname.

Within the late Nineteen Sixties, Osbourne teamed up with bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Invoice Ward. They named themselves after the American title of the basic Italian horror film “I Tre Volti Della Paura,” starring Boris Karloff: Black Sabbath.

The music was all about industrial guitar riffs and disorienting modifications in time signatures, together with lyrics that spoke of alienation and doom. “All day lengthy I consider issues however nothing appears to fulfill/Assume I’ll lose my thoughts if I don’t discover one thing to pacify,” Osbourne sang in a single music.

The Guardian in 2009 stated the band “launched working-class anger, stoner sludge grooves and witchy horror-rock to flower energy.”

A lot later, a healthful Osbourne can be revealed when “The Osbournes,” which ran on MTV from 2002-2005, confirmed this one-time self-proclaimed madman ingesting Eating regimen Cokes as he struggled to seek out the Historical past Channel on his new satellite tv for pc tv.

He’s survived by Sharon, and his youngsters.