Days after staging what were advertised as his farewell live performances as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne died today (July 22) at the age of 76 after struggling with significant health issues for many years.
“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,” the Osbourne family said in a statement. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
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On July 10, Osbourne announced an Oct. 7 release for his second memoir, Last Rites, from Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group. The book will include the artist’s thoughts on the Back to the Beginning concert, which raised a reported $200 million for charity and featured the first Black Sabbath performance with its original lineup in 20 years. A Tania Alexander-directed documentary, No Escape From Now, is also in production and expected to be released this year.
Although it never reached the commercial heights of its peers, Sabbath became one of the most influential bands in rock during its Osbourne era, which ended unceremoniously with him being fired for drug- and alcohol-related issues in 1979. Osbourne then embarked on a hugely successful solo career that yielded dozens of hits well into the current decade, and he was inducted last year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist after first being enshrined with Black Sabbath in 2006.
Indeed, his place in the hard rock pantheon was so deeply felt that his wife and manager Sharon set up an entire touring festival based on it dubbed Ozzfest. The event ran on and off from 1996 to 2018 and bridged the generational divide between Black Sabbath and contemporary acolytes such as Slipknot, System of a Down, Linkin Park and Incubus.
“I’ve never felt comfortable about that title that they put on me – ‘metal.’ Because Ozzy Osbourne plays heavy, but the bands that are [considered metal] are really heavy, and we’re all put in the same category,” he told SPIN in 2023. “When you get pigeonholed with a certain [genre], it can be very difficult to do something a bit lighter or an acoustic track or whatever you want to do. Back in the day, it was always just rock music. It’s still just rock music.”
As David Marchese wrote for SPIN in 2012, “Black Sabbath was the first rock band to get over on trying to scare the shit out of you. Others (Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer) were making sinister, heavy music before Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward got together in Birmingham, England in 1969. None of those other bands were as committed or singular in their bleak vision. From the start, Sabbath emitted no light. That was for others to do. The band’s self-titled first album was released in 1970, and in sickly and unnatural colors its cover shows a witch-like figure in front of a desolate country house. The eponymous first song opens to whispering rain, a tolling bell and a slow, creeping guitar riff. Then Ozzy enters. He sings as if he has no soul to lose. He could be the dead-eyed henchman in some Vincent Price movie. He could not wail virtuoso-style like Robert Plant or Ronnie James Dio. Instead, Ozzy sounded plainly human — or as if he remembered what it was to be one.”
“I just can’t believe it! My dear dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park,” Iommi wrote on X. “It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words. There won’t ever be another like him. Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother. My thoughts go out to Sharon and all the Osbourne family. Rest in peace, Oz.”
Perhaps both in spite of and thanks to past antics such as biting the heads off of birds and bats and snorting a line of ants in the presence of Motley Crue as if they were cocaine, Osbourne connected with new generations of fans thanks to the 2002 launch of the MTV reality show The Osbournes, which became an overnight sensation for its no-bolds-barred look at the family’s unconventional dynamic. Osbourne also launched his own channel, Ozzy’s Boneyard, on SiriusXM in 2012 and frequently appeared on its shows to champion new artists or discuss whatever was on his mind.
“The reality show wasn’t anything different than our regular life, because that’s the way we are anyway,” Osbourne told SPIN of The Osbournes in 2023. “We didn’t become the Osbournes that you see just for the show. That’s the way we are, and all they did was take funny bits out of it. Every family with kids has [something] that other people will find funny, but we’re just in showbiz and entertainment. I’m a rock‘n’roller, my wife’s a manager — she’s always been surrounded by entertainment people — and the kids were born into it. We’ve always been a very close-knit family.”
Despite health issues that eventually made it impossible for him to stand for extended periods of time or even walk, Osbourne enjoyed a late-career renaissance with the Andrew Watt-produced albums Ordinary Man (2020) and Patient Number 9 (2022), which won multiple Grammys.
“Sad to hear Ozzy died today,” Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready wrote on X. “When I was in high school I discovered Sabbath. ‘War Pigs’ was terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. It was Ozzy’s voice that took me away to a dark universe. A great escape. Then when The Blizzard of Ozz record came out, I was instantly a fan. Luckily I got to play on the song ‘Immortal’ on the last record. Thanks for the music, Ozzy. It makes our journey in life better.”
Added actor Adam Sandler, who cast Osbourne in a cameo as himself in the 2000 film Little Nicky, “whether we were in our basements with our brothers, in the woods with our buddies, in the car, at a keg party, on a boat, at football practice, at a sleepover — nobody was more badass to crank up on our speakers than the one and only prince of darkness, Ozzy Osborne! Loved him a lot like we all did! Sending love to the family and so happy to have spent time with the legend himself.”
“We have lost a legend,” KISS’ Paul Stanley wrote on X. “From Sabbath to Blizzard and onward, Ozzy has impacted countless bands and that will not end. KISS was humbled to be an opening band for Sabbath in the mid-’70s. Through decades I’ve known him, Ozzy has always been a kind and very funny soul. Fly high now.”
“Kinda lost for words here,” wrote Def Leppard. “We toured with Ozzy in ’81 and he, the band and Sharon were SO supportive. He always had time for a chat, took us under his wing and showed us how and how not to party.” “Today we lost one of the wildest souls to ever walk this Earth,” added actor Danny Trejo. “Ozzy wasn’t just the Prince of Darkness, he was pure light to those of us lucky enough to meet him. A heart bigger than any stage he ever rocked. My heart goes out to Sharon and the kids. Save me a seat backstage up there, carnál. Love you forever.”
This is a developing story.
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