Metalheads across the globe have been met with tragic news. Ozzy Osbourne — the Black Sabbath frontman known as the Prince of Darkness — has breathed his last at age 76.
Osbourne had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019. The ailment had led him to discontinue touring, with Black Sabbath’s farewell reunion performance taking place just over two weeks ago on July 5th at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK.
“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,” reads a statement from the rock icon’s surviving family members. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Who was Ozzy Osbourne?
Ozzy Osbourne was born on December 3rd, 1948 in Birmingham’s Aston area. He dropped out of school at age 15, and sang in several bands alongside Geezer Butler, who would join Black Sabbath alongside Osbourne as bassist and lyricist shortly after Tony lommi and Bill Ward started the band in 1968.
Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album came out on Friday, the 13th in February 1970, and the darker bent of singles like “Evil Woman” and the title track differentiated it from the happy-go-lucky hippie anthems of the time. Follow-up albums like Paranoid and Master of Reality would go on to influence the emerging heavy metal sound, spawning a generation of copycats.
Osbourne was equally well known for shocking stunts. Amid the excess of the 1980s, he bit the heads off of doves and a bat, even going as far as to snort ants while on the Monsters of Rock Tour with Mötley Crüe, Van Halen, and AC/DC in 1984. Osbourne was also well known to indulge in various substances, but in 2021, he told Variety that he had managed to stay sober since 2014.
Whether you’re a card-carrying metalhead or this is your first time hearing of Ozzy, turn on some Sabbath today and pour one out for this larger-than-life legend of rock. We know we will.
