Heavy metal, reality TV, and biting bats: The wild life of Ozzy Osbourne

"You've nary thought however I consciousness - convey you from the bottommost of my heart," an affectional Ozzy Osbourne told fans arsenic helium performed from a throne connected signifier astatine his beloved Villa Park, reunited with Black Sabbath, little than 3 weeks ago.

It was an exit connected his ain presumption by dense metal's biggest character, with a supporting line-up of hard stone luminaries including Slayer, Metallica and Guns'n'Roses, each inspired by his music.

With Black Sabbath, Osbourne was astatine the forefront of dense metal. As Ozzy, helium was 1 of the biggest stone stars successful the world. Nowhere was this much evident than astatine the Back To The Beginning successful his location city, wherever 40,000 fans gathered to spot the amusement billed arsenic his "final bow".

"Without Sabbath, determination would beryllium nary Metallica," frontman James Hetfield told the assemblage successful Birmingham.

It was a sentiment echoed by galore of the different acts who performed connected stage. Announced by his woman Sharon earlier this year, the amusement was a accidental for the performer to reunite with Black Sabbath and accidental convey you and farewell to fans aft years of wellness problems, including Parkinson's disease, which had forced him to cancel caller circuit shows.

Other celebrities, from Sir Elton John to Dolly Parton, sent video messages of support. Fans knew it would beryllium his past performance, but could not person known his death, astatine the property of 76, would travel truthful soon.

It was a genuinely metallic goodbye.

'I deliberation there's a chaotic antheral successful everybody'

John Michael Osbourne was calved successful Solihull successful December 1948 and grew up successful the Aston country of the West Midlands city.

As a teenager, helium was bullied astatine school. Drink and drugs aboriginal became a mode to flight his fears, helium said successful interviews, and aft leaving schoolhouse astatine 15, helium worked respective jobs, including labouring and successful an abattoir.

It was proceeding The Beatles, helium said, that made him privation to beryllium a musician.

"I deliberation there's a chaotic antheral successful everybody," helium says successful a resurfaced interrogation clip. "Ozzy Osbourne and John Osbourne is 2 antithetic people. John Osbourne is talking to you now." His eyes widen a small manically, helium grins, the dependable cranks up. "But if you privation to beryllium Ozzy Osbourne, it's like... it conscionable takes implicit you."

In 1967, helium was recruited to the set that 2 years aboriginal would go Black Sabbath, inspired by a movie of the aforesaid title. This was a line-up of 4 working-class schoolfriends - Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, alongside Ozzy - who twisted dense blues into thing darker, creating a dependable and otherworldly representation that felt new, breathtaking and rebellious.

A self-titled debut medium was released successful 1970 and made the Top 10 successful the UK. The follow-up, Paranoid, released conscionable 7 months later, topped the charts aft the azygous of the aforesaid sanction became their large breakthrough. The medium besides included the unforgettable Iron Man and the anti-war protestation opus War Pigs - its unmistakeable riff inspiring the Arctic Monkeys' 2014 single, Arabella.

Black Sabbath went connected to merchandise six much albums with Osbourne astatine the helm earlier helium was fired successful 1979 owed to his drinking and substance use, thing helium claimed was nary amended oregon worse than different members astatine the time.

In 1980, helium returned with his debut solo album, Blizzard Of Oz, and the pb azygous Crazy Train. As a solo artist, helium went connected to merchandise 13 workplace albums - the past being Patient Number 9, successful 2022 - and had hits with songs including Mr Crowley, Diary Of A Madman, No More Tears, Bark At The Moon and Shot In The Dark.

His archetypal UK fig 1 was a re-recording of the Black Sabbath ballad Changes, arsenic a duet with his daughter, Kelly, successful 2003, and his collaborations implicit the years included everyone from Alice Cooper (Hey Stoopid successful 1991) and Post Malone (Take What You Want successful 2019) to, successful a somewhat antithetic move, Hollywood prima Kim Basinger for a re-recording of the creation deed Shake Your Head by Was (Not Was) successful 1992.

With Black Sabbath and arsenic a solo star, helium is estimated to person sold 100 cardinal records passim his vocation - for context, this is reportedly connected a par with Sir Paul McCartney's solo income - truthful the numbers talk for themselves.

Biting the bat

Osbourne was besides a immense property and played up to his hellraising representation - the Prince of Darkness.

The astir celebrated Ozzy communicative goes similar this.

The vocalist was connected signifier successful Des Moines, Iowa, 1982, erstwhile the bat appeared. He assumed it was a toy. So, similar immoderate bully hellraiser would do, helium spot its caput off.

For much than 40 years, helium recovered himself jokily fielding questions astir bats. What bash they sensation like? (Salty). What happened afterwards? (Headline news, achy rabies shots). Do you person immoderate pets? (Yes. They're each dead).
"I get a batch of weird radical astatine my concerts," helium told David Letterman successful 1982, of however the carnal came to look successful beforehand of him. "It's stone 'n' roll, y'know".

He was sometimes irritated by the bat connection. But helium besides played up to the image, recounting the communicative successful interviews, offering plush bat toys among his merch, and appearing arsenic himself, biting a bat, successful the 2000 Adam Sandler drama Little Nicky, astir the lad of Satan.

Known for catapulting earthy nutrient astatine fans during gigs, determination were plentifulness of different tales of acheronian and debauchery. Osbourne's chaotic persona and on-stage theatrics ever went hand-in-hand with the music.

From Prince of Darkness to world TV

He was famously managed by his wife, Sharon, whom helium archetypal met erstwhile her dad, Don Arden, was managing Black Sabbath. As good arsenic the music, Sharon and Ozzy unneurotic founded the Ozzfest festival tours successful 1996 - and successful 2002 came his 2nd act.

It's hard to ideate it now, but earlier the perfectly coiffed Kardashians it was a scruffy 50-something rocker from Birmingham and his household who ruled the Hollywood world TV scene. As with his music, helium was a pioneer - this clip circular of a caller epoch of addictive viewing.

The Osbournes followed the lives of Ozzy and Sharon and 2 of their children, Kelly and Jack (their eldest daughter, Aimee, famously had thing to bash with the show), and the household fallouts and sunny California civilization clash proved to beryllium a ratings winner. The MTV bid catapulted the metallic prima to planetary mainstream personage heights.

His matrimony to Sharon was tumultuous but the brace ever stayed together, and they renewed their wedding vows successful 2017. Sharon was the driving unit down Ozzy's successes, to him yet getting clean, and down his farewell show.

Despite weathering the tempest of portion and cause use, Osbourne's aerial of indestructibility was challenged erstwhile a quad motorcycle mishap near him with a breached collar bony and ribs, arsenic good arsenic short-term representation loss, successful 2003.

The 2020 documentary Biography: The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osbourne, had summed up with its rubric the performer's seeming quality to defy the odds. However, the wellness problems started to equine up. Scheduled tours were postponed, and successful 2023 helium told fans holding connected to tickets that helium had travel to the realisation helium was "not physically capable" of dealing with beingness connected the road.

But determination was 1 gig helium couldn't miss - a astonishment quality to adjacent the Commonwealth Games successful his location metropolis successful 2022, conscionable weeks aft undergoing surgery.

Now, fans volition retrieve the shows they did get to see, the euphony that ushered successful a caller genre - and particularly his astir caller gig, which was said to person raised astir £140m for charities. Just a fewer days afterwards, his caller memoir, Last Rites, was announced. It volition beryllium released successful October.

During his career, Osbourne was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame and the US Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame - doubly for both, with Black Sabbath and arsenic a solo artist. "Countless artists from galore genres person credited Ozzy arsenic a large influence, including Metallica, Lita Ford, Rage Against The Machine, and Busta Rhymes," reads his US citation. "With his longevity, impact, and iconic persona, Ozzy Osbourne is simply a improvement dissimilar immoderate other."

He besides has a prima connected the Hollywood Walk Of Fame - arsenic good arsenic successful Birmingham's Broad Street - an Ivor Novello, and 5 Grammy wins from 12 nominations.

But different honours, specified arsenic the NME's Godlike Genius award, and Classic Rock's Living Legend, besides springiness a consciousness of however overmuch his property played a portion successful wherefore helium is truthful beloved by fans and critics alike. In the Nine Lives documentary, girl Kelly describes him arsenic "the astir irresistible huffy antheral you volition ever conscionable successful your life".

Osbourne's was an improbable travel from Birmingham to LA. He was a working-class leader of dense metal, a world TV favourite - everlastingly the Prince of Darkness.

"People accidental to me, if you could bash it each again, knowing what you cognize now, would you alteration anything?" helium erstwhile said. "I'm like, f*** no... If I'd done normal, sensible things, I wouldn't beryllium Ozzy."