Ozzy Osbourne, the iconic solo artist and singer for heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath, has died at age 76. His family confirmed his passing in a statement on Tuesday, July 22.“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 statement began. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”Born John Michael Osbourne in Marston Green, England, in 1948, Ozzy was inspired to become a musician after hearing the Beatles’ hit “She Loves You.” He linked up with guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, and bassist Geezer Butler around 1968, and by August 1969, they’d renamed their band Black Sabbath, after the 1963 film of the same moniker. With Osbourne’s mournful, weighted howl at the helm, Black Sabbath released some of heavy metal formative and most influential recordings. Their first two LPs, Black Sabbath and Paranoid, minted monumental rock-canon staples like “N.I.B.,” “The Wizard,” “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” and “Iron Man.”For their time, Black Sabbath’s sound and lyrics were disturbingly dark and heavy. Both fans and critics could agree on one thing: their music was “wicked,” each in their own sense of the word. It’s no surprise, then, that soon after Sabbath began releasing records, Osbourne and the band became frequent targets of religious groups accusing them of promoting Satanism and radiating “evil” energy. For their followers, that was exactly the appeal. Long before “horror rock” was a genre, Ozzy and Sabbath made music that shocked and unsettled listeners, confronting the cruelty, madness, and injustice of modern life.“Throughout his career, Osbourne surrounded himself with celebrated, genre-defining guitarists.”Throughout his career, Osbourne surrounded himself with celebrated, genre-defining guitarists, starting with Tony Iommi, whose crushing, downtuned Gibson SG-powered riffs not only defined Black Sabbath’s music, but helped to forge the sound of heavy metal itself. After Ozzy was fired from Sabbath, he teamed up with guitarist Randy Rhoads and launched his solo career with 1980’s landmark Blizzard of Ozz. The album catapulted Rhoads to international fame as a bona fide guitar hero. He could deliver towering, electrifying riffs and solos on tracks like “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley,” but he also brought a classical and more emotional sensibility to Ozzy’s music, evident in the acoustic melancholy of “Dee” and the dramatic, environmental-apocalypse themes of “Revelation (Mother Earth).”Diary of a Madman, their second album together, further established Osbourne’s solo career and cemented Rhoads, with his Karl Sandoval-built polka dot Flying V and Jackson V-style electrics (as well as the occasional Les Paul), as a guitar icon. Tragically, Rhoads died in a plane crash in 1982, and Osbourne eventually tapped the shredder Jake E. Lee as his permanent replacement. That partnership lasted for two more successful albums, Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin, but it was in 1987 that Osbourne found his most longstanding guitar foil—20-year-old Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt, better known as Zakk Wylde, who auditioned to replace the recently departed Lee. Wylde’s shrieking pinch harmonics, scorching wah-pedal leads, and chorus-colored chording defined a new era of Osbourne’s musical life on songs like “No More Tears,” “Miracle Man,” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” Osbourne continued to collaborate with Wylde through the 2000s, and Wylde performed at Osbourne’s 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.As he moved through his career, Osbourne was infamous as much for his music as for his wild antics—such as the never-to-be-forgotten bat- and dove-biting incidents. Though he achieved sobriety at various points in his life, his oft-imitated slurred vocal delivery and hell-raiser image remained his calling cards.Osbourne had been battling a Parkinson’s disease variant, amongst other ailments, since at least 2020, which hindered his ability to perform onstage. At Black Sabbath’s final show, an all-day affair that took place on July 5 in their hometown of Birmingham, England, Osbourne sang from a chair topped with a black bat—an homage to his old foe, perhaps. Osbourne appeared visibly frail; nevertheless, it was a triumphant performance, as he powered through a short set of solo classics before reuniting with his old bandmates for four songs.Osbourne’s “Prince of Darkness” moniker was often tied to the occult and sinister themes in his music, but he knew real darkness from an early age. He struggled with dyslexia in school, was sexually abused at age 11, and attempted suicide multiple times as a teenager. At 17, he spent six weeks in prison after robbing a clothing store. He did not arrive at darkness by choice; it was thrust upon him.Over 50 years, Osbourne created music that faced down, rather than ignored, the bleak, lonesome truths of the human experience. Thanks to him, and the fleet of ace guitarists he worked with, generations have learned to embrace and probe the shadows lurking behind the light, and to make sense of them through ferocious guitar riffs and monstrous rock songs. Those are skills we’ll likely always need.YouTubeOzzy Osbourne performs “I Don’t Know,” the leadoff track from Blizzard of Ozz, with Randy Rhoads, bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge, in 1981.
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