“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”, the statement, carried by Sky News, read.
Osbourne’s bludgeoning vocals on Black Sabbath’s self‑titled 1970 debut and its follow‑up “Paranoid” set the template for heavy metal. In an interview with Polish news outlet Onet, Polish music journalist Hirek Wrona called the first record “a milestone – the genre’s very first metal album”.
Kicked out of the band in 1979 over substance abuse, Osbourne launched a solo career whose opening salvo, “Blizzard of Ozz”, went quintuple‑platinum in the United States. He ultimately released 11 studio albums, the latest being 2020’s “Ordinary Man”, featuring Post Malone, Travis Scott and Elton John.
Osbourne rejoined Black Sabbath in 2013 for the chart‑topping album “13” and a farewell tour that ended in their native Birmingham on Feb. 4, 2017. Three weeks ago, the singer himself gave an emotional final show at Birmingham’s Villa Park stadium, telling fans: “You have no idea what I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart”.
Beyond music, Osbourne’s MTV reality series “The Osbournes” (2002‑05) turned him, wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack into household names. “He was the first metal celebrity to open the door to his private life,” Wrona said, describing the singer’s “chaotic yet endearing” persona.
Controversy trailed him – most notoriously when he bit the head off a bat onstage in 1982 – yet Wrona noted a contrasting devotion to family: “He stood against Christianity, yet upheld the Christian ideal of family”.
Osbourne also championed younger acts through his Ozzfest touring festival, giving bands such as Slipknot a global platform and, according to Wrona, showing “how open he was to different genres”.
The singer amassed five Grammy Awards from 12 nominations and won honors ranging from NME’s Godlike Genius to Classic Rock’s Living Legend. He holds stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Birmingham’s Broad Street.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in recent years, Osbourne nonetheless stunned fans with a surprise performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Birmingham.
Reflecting on Osbourne’s last concert, Wrona said: “It wasn’t a gig, it was a spectacle – the chair onstage looked like a coffin, and Ozzy faced it with humor. He was the prototype for metal’s entire visual language”.
(jh)
Source: PAP, Onet