R.I.P. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)

“Mama, I’m Coming Home…”

Ozzy Osbourne, the Black Sabbath frontman credited as the godfather of heavy metal, and music superstar in his own right as well as author, accidental reality TV pioneer, and media personality passed away Tuesday morning in Buckinghamshire, UK at the age of 76, according to his wife, Sharon, and four of his five children confirmed in a joint statement.

“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. He was with his family and surrounded by love, “We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.”

No other details nor cause of death were disclosed though Osbourne had been suffering from a variant of Parkinson’s disease and had several health setbacks in recent years. He was still able to perform nine songs and reunited with his old band mates while sitting in a black-winged throne during his final live performance two weeks ago at the Back to the Beginning charity concert (that we attended in-person), which raised £140 million for Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s.

He was born John Michael Osbourne in Marston Green in the UK on Dec. 3, 1948, and grew up in the Aston area of Birmingham as the fourth of six children to his power plant-working toolmaker father and auto parts factory working mother. He would struggle in school with non-diagnosed dyslexia and attention deficit disorder, dropping out at age fifteen and working a series of short-lived jobs. Arrested for robbing a clothes shop, his father declined to pay the fine to teach him a lesson, and he spent several weeks in prison.

But, he did convince his father to buy him a P.A. system and was recruited by bassist Geezer Butler to sing in his first band, Rare Breed, which broke up after only two gigs. The pair would join forces with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward in a band called Earth, which would re-christen themselves as Black Sabbath, named after a Boris Karloff horror film’s title.

They loved the name so much, it would be the title of an early song and the quartet’s debut album, released in 1970, which defined their unique dark blues sound at loud volumes, jazz rhythms adapted for rock, and occult and horror-inspired lyrics of doom. The Paranoid album would also be released that same year, and a total of eight over the next eight years.

Songs like “Paranoid,” “Iron Man” and “War Pigs” became album rock radio staples and anthems for youth, but never much caught the critic’s eyes, nor gained much of a female fan base. Following his departure from Sabbath, Osbourne would go on to an equally successful solo career (notably beginning it with the late guitarist Randy Rhoads at his side), earning thirteen platinum albums and occasionally reuniting with the original band, though he and Bill Ward would go twenty-five years before playing together one last time.

Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, both as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006 and as a solo performer in 2024 (which we were in attendance for) . Though he was well-known for his drug addictions and stage antics as well as his nickname, “The Prince of Darkness” Osbourne was, in actuality, a comedic homebody dad, as the world found out on the hit 2002 MTV series, “The Osbournes” which showed an inside look into their family relationships.

Osbourne claims he was saved in those darkest days by his eventual second wife, Sharon, the speaks-her-mind daughter of his then-manager Don Arden, with the pair marrying on July 4, 1982 (a date he could always remember, and what would be an incredibly long time for a celebrity marriage to sustain).

After Osbourne was rebuffed in an attempt to play the Lollapalooza Festival, his savvy wife and manager Sharon began their own festival, deemed OzzFest, which became the premier summer touring package of hard rock and metal acts, and ran until 2018.

Despite retiring from the live stage, he had planned to keep recording, had finished another book which releases in the fall, and a theatrical version of the Back to The Beginning final concert, is being prepped for proper release as well.

Survivors include wife Sharon, their three children Aimee, 41; Kelly, 40; and Jack, 39, two children from his first marriage (to Thelma Riley 1971-82), daughter Jessica and son Louis, 50, adopted son, Elliott Kingsley, 59, and numerous grandchildren.

photo by Fin Costello