Ozzy Osbourne, Godfather of Heavy Metal, Dies at 76
'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,' Osbourne's family confirmed in statement. 'He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.'His death comes just 17 days after he played his final show in Birmingham, England on July 5, reuniting with Black Sabbath and joined by a star-studded roster including Metallica, Guns n' Roses and Steven Tyler, among others.
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Osbourne is known as one of the most influential artists of his generation, an instrumental force in establishing metal music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006, then for a second time as a solo artist last year. He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide in total and was inducted into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame as both a solo artist and for his work in the band.
Born Dec. 3, 1948, in Aston, West Midlands, U.K., Osbourne was the son of a toolmaker father and factory worker mom, with three older sisters and two younger brothers. He had the nickname 'Ozzy' since primary school. As he became a global star, he'd dawn another nickname, 'The Prince of Darkness.'
Drawn to the stage in school, he became a huge fan of The Beatles at 14, crediting 'She Loves You' with inspiring him to want to be a musician. He left school at 15 to work construction, as a plumber, car factory horn-tuner and an apprentice tool-maker. He committed a series of petty crimes growing up and spent six weeks in prison after being found guilty of robbing a clothing shop and not paying the fine.
In 1967, Geezer Butler formed the group Rare Breed and recruited Osbourne as vocalist before breaking up after two shows. The two reunited in Polka Tulk Blues, along with Mythology guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, renaming themselves Earth, then Black Sabbath in August 1969 after a 1963 Italian-French horror film starring Boris Karloff. The group's approach was dark and gloomy, with Butler's nocturnal vision of a dark figure at the end of his bed inspiring the band's title track.
Built around Iommi's thundering guitar, Butler's spooky lyrics, Ward's doomy drum beats and Osbourne's eerie caterwaul, the band's self-titled debut and second album, Paranoid, were both successes. Around this time, Osbourne met his future wife, Sharon Arden, leading to hiring her father, Don Arden, as their manager.
Master of Reality was released in July 1971 and is widely regarded as providing the foundation of stoner rock and sludge metal. The album went on to sell more than 2 million copies and was the band's only Top 10 U.S. album until 13 in 2013. Osbourne was plagued by drug and alcohol abuse, including a failed marriage to Thelma Riley, which produced a daughter, Jessica, and son, Louis.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath followed in November 1973 and was dubbed by Rolling Stone 'an extraordinarily gripping affair … nothing less than a complete success.' Sabotage came out in July 1975, with Technical Ecstasy released in September 1976, as the positive reviews were replaced by criticism that the band was 'unravelling at an alarming rate,' Allmusic.com noted.
Osbourne left the band in 1979 to launch a solo project, Blizzard of Ozz, but he rejoined Sabbath after three months to write and record 'Never Say Die.' The subsequent tour did little to inspire, with his last appearance in that Sabbath era taking place Dec. 11, 1978, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When they re-entered the studio, Osbourne's vocals were continually tweaked by Iommi, and he was eventually fired from Black Sabbath in April 1979, replaced by Rainbow's Ronnie James Dio.
Signed to Don Arden's Jet Records, Osbourne began to be looked after by Arden's daughter Sharon in Los Angeles, where the two were married on July 4, 1982. The new incarnation of Blizzard of Ozz included Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake, Rainbow bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley and keyboardist Don Airey and Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads. Their self-titled debut turned into a multiplatinum success.
Osbourne's second album, Diary of a Madman, established Rhoads as a full-fledged star in his own right, with singles like 'Over the Mountain' and 'Flying High Again.' Eventually, drummer Tommy Aldridge and bassist Rudy Sarzo replaced Kerslake and Daisley. Rhoads died in an airplane accident in March 1982 while performing low passes over the band's tour bus, also killing the pilot (the band's tour bus driver, Andrew Aycock) and costume/makeup designer Rachel Youngblood.
When the tour resumed, Bernie Torme replaced Rhoads and in turn was replaced by Night Ranger's Brad Gillis, culminating in the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil. In 1983, new guitarist Jake E. Lee, who had played with Ratt and Rough Cutt, joined for Bark at the Moon, with the title track proving a fan favorite and helping the album go gold, eventually selling more than 3 million copies in the U.S. The Ultimate Sin followed in 1986, another double-platinum success.
Jake E. Lee was out of the band in 1987 as Osbourne continued to struggle with addiction, making a cameo appearance in The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. He discovered yet another star guitarist in Zakk Wylde for the album, No Rest for the Wicked, with a subsequent tour that saw Ozzy reunited with bassist Geezer Butler. In 1988, Osbourne performed a duet with Lita Ford on 'Close My Eyes Forever,' which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Osbourne maintained his commercial success into the '90s with albums like 1991's No More Tears, which established him as a presence on MTV with songs like 'Mama, I'm Coming Home.' He received a Grammy Award for best metal performance for 'I Don't Want to Change The World,' a track from 1993's Live & Loud, which went four times platinum and was Top 10 on that year's Billboard Rock chart.
Osbourne released Ozzmosis in 1995 and returned to the road on 'The Retirement Sucks Tour.' The album went to No. 4 on the Billboard 200, going double platinum, with tracks like 'Perry Mason,' 'Ghost Behind My Eyes,' 'Thunder Underground' and the power ballad 'See You on the Other Side' and a lineup that included Wylde, Butler, Steve Vai and drummer Deen Castronovo, with Yes' Rick Wakeman and producer Michael Beinhorn on keyboards.
During this period, Ozzy and Sharon launched Ozzfest in October 1996 in Phoenix, a festival that spotlighted classic and newer heavy metal bands and went on to gross more than $100 million. It also spawned the 2005 MTV competition reality show Battle for Ozzfest, which followed the success of The Osbournes, the reality TV show that took viewers behind the scenes into the everyday life of Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack, turning them all into household names during its 2002-05 run.
Ozzy's 2001 solo album, Down to Earth, also went platinum and featured the Billboard Top 10 Mainstream Rock hit 'Dreamer.' In January 2003, the entire Osbourne family hosted the 30th annual American Music Awards.
In December 2003, Ozzy was seriously injured after an accident with his all-terrain vehicle broke his collarbone, eight ribs and a neck vertebra. While recovering, he scored his first U.K. No. 1 single, a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad 'Changes' with daughter Kelly.
'Black Rain' was released in May 2007, followed by 'Scream' in April 2010 and the 2014 CD/DVD compilation, Memoirs of a Madman, which celebrated his solo career. He published his autobiography, I Am Ozzy, in 2009, which debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times best-seller list. A documentary about Ozzy's life and career, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011 and was released on DVD, produced by his son Jack.
In 2011, at the West Hollywood club Whisky a Go Go, a Black Sabbath reunion was announced with the original lineup, though Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk stepped in for Bill Ward on drums after a contract dispute. The band played at the 02 Academy in their hometown of Birmingham in May 2012 and in June 2013, they released 13, produced by Rick Rubin, which debuted at No. 1 on both the U.K. and Billboard 200 album charts.
Osbourne and Sabbath had one last legendary show this month, the Back to the Beginning Concert in Birmingham. There, the Prince of Darkness sat on a throne one final time, singing on hits like 'Crazy Train,' 'Iron Man' and 'Mama, I'm Coming Home.'
Osbourne is survived by his wife, Sharon, their daughters Aimee and Kelly, and son Jack as well as a biological son, Louis John, an adopted son Elliot Kingsley and daughter Jessica Starshine, from his first marriage to Riley.
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