Ozzy Osbourne, the self-styled Prince of Darkness who helped outline heavy-metal music because the singer of Black Sabbath, has died at age 76.
Lower than three weeks in the past, Osbourne carried out seated in a black throne at a farewell live performance earlier than 40,000 followers in England. He suffered from Parkinson’s illness, which he disclosed publicly in 2020. His demise was reported Tuesday by the Related Press, which cited a press release from the household.
Osbourne carried out with Black Sabbath from 1968, when the band was shaped, till 1979, when he was fired. He went on to a solo profession and bought greater than 100 million albums, based on Billboard. He additionally starred in his personal reality-television present, The Osbournes, primarily based on his household.
Drug-and-alcohol-fueled habits marred his profession. He bit the top of a bat thrown on stage in Des Moines, Iowa, in January 1982. He was arrested for urinating on a statue throughout from the Alamo in San Antonio a month later.
“I by no means thought I’d final this lengthy,” Osbourne mentioned in an interview with Soundcheck journal in 1986. “I’ve been fairly almost lifeless a number of occasions due to all of the booze and stuff. Cocaine, hashish, LSD. I’m attempting to scrub up and it’s not cool. I’ve had a whole lot of enjoyable although and I hope I’ve made a number of good data.”
Certainly one of his songs, Suicide Answer, led to a lawsuit by the mother and father of a depressed teenager who shot himself whereas listening to the document. Osbourne defended himself in court docket and maintained the observe was a plea in opposition to alcohol abuse.
“That’s not how I meant it,” he mentioned. “I meant that alcohol can kill you, don’t do it.”
John Michael Osbourne was born on Dec. 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England. He was hampered by undiagnosed dyslexia in class, and later failed at manufacturing unit jobs and an incipient profession as a burglar earlier than realizing his rock-star dream with Black Sabbath, which began in his hometown.
The heavy-metal group’s rise to stardom on the again of such hits as Paranoid and Iron Man propelled him into drug and alcohol abuse that led to infidelity, neglectful parenting, abusive episodes with two wives and near-death experiences over 4 many years.
“Medication almost killed me,” Osbourne instructed Bloomberg Information in 2010. “I didn’t like the way in which I felt due to the stigma that I had, so after I drank I believed that was the way in which I needed to really feel. I needed to be carefree.”
After the firing from Black Sabbath, Osbourne’s profession was resurrected with the assistance of his supervisor, Sharon Arden. She grew to become his spouse in 1982, and collectively they created a heavy-metal live performance tour referred to as Ozzfest within the Nineties.
Osbourne additionally took half in a number of Black Sabbath reunions, starting in 1997. The final one began in 2012, when the band recorded its ultimate studio album, 13, and lasted till a tour led to 2014.
Alongside the way in which, he grew to become a reality-TV star. The Osbournes collection was broadcast on the MTV cable channel from 2002 to 2005 and featured Ozzy, Sharon and two of their three kids, Jack and Kelly. Their oldest little one, Aimee, declined to take part.
Osbourne mentioned the Des Moines bat incident in his 2009 autobiography, I Am Ozzy, written with Chris Ayres. He thought a fan had thrown a toy bat on stage. He bit down on it, as he at all times did with rubber toys despatched his manner. The animal’s blood left “the worst aftertaste you would ever think about,” Osbourne wrote. “Then the top in my mouth twitched.”
The incident was adopted by rabies photographs, picketing by animal rights teams and a surge in media consideration. Much more publicity got here from the Alamo incident, through which he was arrested whereas carrying considered one of Sharon’s night robes.
Osbourne married his first spouse, Thelma, in 1971. The couple had two kids, Jessica and Louis, earlier than divorcing in 1982.