Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath Singer and Heavy Metal Legend, Dies at 76
Ozzy Osbourne, the famous lead singer of the band Black Sabbath and a big name in heavy metal music, has died at the age of 76. His family shared the news on Tuesday.
“It is with deep sadness that we share Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” his family said in a statement to CNN. “He was with his loved ones and surrounded by love. Please respect our privacy at this time.”
The cause of death has not been shared yet.
Just a few weeks ago, Osbourne performed in Birmingham, England, his hometown. It was a special reunion show with his Black Sabbath bandmates — Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Tony Iommi. The concert was called Back to the Beginning and was their first performance together in 20 years. It was also promoted as Osbourne’s “final bow.”
Ozzy was well known for his wild behavior on stage. He once bit the head off a bat and threw raw meat into the crowd. He also struggled with alcohol and drugs throughout his life. While some people in the rock world admired him, others — especially some religious groups — strongly criticized him.
Later in life, he became even more famous through the reality TV show The Osbournes, which showed his home life and inspired shows like the Kardashians’.
Early Life
Ozzy Osbourne was born John Osbourne on December 3, 1948, in Birmingham, England. His father was a toolmaker and his mother worked in a factory.
He left school at 15 and worked different jobs, including on construction sites and in a slaughterhouse. He also tried stealing, but ended up in jail for six weeks when his father refused to pay his fine. This was mentioned in Ozzy’s 2009 book, I Am Ozzy.
Osbourne said he was inspired to become a musician after hearing The Beatles’ song “She Loves You.”
In 1967, bassist Geezer Butler started a band called Rare Breed and invited Osbourne to join, along with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. They later changed their name to Black Sabbath, choosing a scary name because people also pay to watch horror movies. Their music gave the same kind of feeling.
They recorded their first album Black Sabbath in just two days in 1969. “We finished quickly and went to the pub,” Osbourne joked in his book.
The ‘Godfather of Heavy Metal’
Black Sabbath’s loud and dark music became very popular, especially because of their use of unusual sounds that had long been connected with scary or “evil” themes in music.
Their second album Paranoid came out in 1970 and hit number one in the UK. The band didn’t get another number-one album until 13 in 2013.
Ozzy was often called the “Godfather of Heavy Metal,” but he liked to call himself the “Prince of Darkness,” which was also his Twitter name.
In a 2013 interview with CNN, he said, “I never really liked the term ‘heavy metal.’ To me, music in the 70s was bluesy, the 80s had big hair and bright clothes, and the 90s were more grungy.”
Ozzy Osbourne was kicked out of the band Black Sabbath in 1979 because of his problems with alcohol and drugs. At that time, the band had already released eight albums together. After that, Osbourne started his solo music career and released 11 more albums. He later reunited with Black Sabbath in 1997.
One of the most famous incidents in his career happened on January 20, 1982, during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa. He bit the head off a bat on stage. He later said he thought the bat was fake and made of rubber.
The bat story stuck with him for years. In a 1987 interview with NBC’s Today Show, he joked that people always asked him what bats taste like, and he would say, “Like my mother-in-law’s cooking.”
His addiction to drugs and alcohol also caused personal problems. It was one of the reasons he divorced his first wife, Thelma Mayfair. He also had a difficult relationship with his father-in-law, Don Arden, who had managed big music stars like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
Ozzy met Arden’s daughter, Sharon, when she was a teenager. They started dating in 1979, when she was 28, which her father didn’t like. When Ozzy and Sharon got married in 1982, Don Arden gave Sharon Ozzy’s music contract as a wedding gift. But she took Ozzy off her father’s label and signed him to CBS, a much bigger company. Arden sued them and won a million dollars. Sharon didn’t speak to her father for nearly 20 years. She later became Ozzy’s manager.
Looking back on his life, Ozzy said in the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, “I should have died a thousand times but I didn’t.” He admitted to using lots of drugs and alcohol in the past.
This also affected his family life. In a CNN interview, Sharon said Ozzy used to have violent outbursts. She said it was very scary, especially when they were alone in a house with the kids sleeping.
Despite all this, the Osbournes became very popular. Their reality show The Osbournes won an Emmy in 2002. The show helped Sharon become a well-known TV personality, and their daughter Kelly also started a music and TV career.
Ozzy Osbourne received many awards over his career, including several Grammy Awards. One was in 1993 for his solo song “I Don’t Want To Change The World.” In 2023, he won two more Grammys for best rock album and best rock performance. He also received top honors as a member of the band Black Sabbath.
In March 2006, Ozzy and the other members of Black Sabbath were added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Later on Tuesday, bandmate Geezer Butler shared a message on Instagram, saying, “Goodbye dear friend — thanks for all those years — we had a lot of fun.” He also said, “Four kids from Aston — who would’ve thought? I’m glad we got to play together one last time in Aston.”
Tony Iommi also wrote on X (formerly Twitter), calling the news “heartbreaking.” He said there would never be anyone like Ozzy, and that he, Geezer, and Bill had lost a brother.
Bill Ward shared his feelings on X too, saying, “Where will I find you now? In the memories, in our missed calls, in our silent hugs. You’ll always be in my heart.”
Health Problems
In early 2019, Ozzy had to cancel some concerts after he got pneumonia and had a serious fall at home in Los Angeles.
His health kept getting worse. Over the next few years, he had several surgeries. One surgery went badly and left him nearly unable to walk. In January 2020, he said he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Still, Ozzy continued to perform here and there. One big moment was when he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Ozzy said he would “die a happy man” if he could do just one more concert to thank his fans.
“If I can’t perform regularly, I just want to do one last show to say, ‘Hi everyone, thanks for my life.’ That’s my goal, and if I die afterward, I’ll be happy,” he said.
Earlier in 2023, Ozzy announced he was done with touring. He said his body just couldn’t handle it anymore. That summer, he canceled a planned appearance at a music festival set for October.
He told Rolling Stone, “I’m taking things one day at a time. If I can perform again, I will. But stopping touring felt like saying goodbye to the best part of my life. At first, I was angry — at myself, the doctors, the world. But now, I’m starting to accept it.”
Ozzy is survived by his wife Sharon, three children from his first marriage, and three children with Sharon: Jack, Kelly, and Aimee.
Published: 23rd July 2025
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