Wildest moments and myths of Ozzy Osbourne, the man who made madness mainstream

Economic Times

23-07-2025

Ozzy Osbourne's life blurred fact and folklore from bat bites to bizarre benders the Prince of Darkness redefined what it meant to be a rock legend
Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary frontman of Black Sabbath and the self-styled 'Prince of Darkness,' has died at the age of 76. Known as much for his music as for his jaw-dropping antics, Osbourne leaves behind a legacy few in the music world could match, or survive.As tributes pour in from across the globe, fans are also remembering the outrageous and often unbelievable episodes that defined Ozzy's larger-than-life persona. From biting the heads off animals to urinating on national monuments, Osbourne pushed the boundaries of fame and rebellion, and rock 'n' roll recklessness.Here's a look at some of the wildest moments and reported myths from the man who lived every day as if it were his last:During a concert in Des Moines in January 1982, Iowa, Osbourne infamously bit the head off what he thought was a rubber bat thrown on stage. It turned out to be real and dead. He was rushed to the hospital for rabies shots, but the moment became immortalized in rock folklore. Months before the bat, Osbourne shocked record executives by biting the head off a live dove during a meeting with CBS Records. The act was meant to get attention, and it did, along with immediate ejection from the building.
Ozzy was drunk and wearing Sharon Osbourne's dress when he urinated on a cenotaph near the Alamo in San Antonio in 1982. He was arrested and banned from performing in the city for 10 years.
Amid a drug-fueled mental breakdown in 1989, Ozzy tried to strangle his wife Sharon. She survived and later dropped the charges, but the incident sent him to rehab.
Sharon later said, 'It wasn't Ozzy. It was the drugs. I still believe that.'While visiting the Dachau camp in Germany, a drunk Ozzy reportedly caused such a disturbance that security threw him out, possibly the only person in history to be ejected from a Holocaust memorial site.At the height of MTV's The Osbournes fame in the early 2000s, Ozzy was reportedly taking as many as 42 prescription pills daily, including 25 Vicodin. Yet he somehow remained standing, physically, if not always mentally.High on drugs, Ozzy climbed on top of an aerial tramway car stalled 1,000 feet in the air and spread his arms wide, pretending to surf. It's a miracle he didn't fall to his death.In a drunken rampage, Ozzy once shot the family's chickens with a shotgun, then burned the coop, while throwing live ammo into the fire for good measure.Once worried about smuggling cocaine through customs, Ozzy simply handed his supply to flight attendants, who snorted it with him during the flight.Waking up to an intruder in his home, Ozzy, who sleeps nude, chased the man out of the house in full buff. It worked. The robber ran.
Despite, or perhaps because of his excesses, Ozzy Osbourne became a symbol of unapologetic, unrelenting rock and roll. He was chaos wrapped in leather, a walking headline, and a survivor of a lifestyle that claimed countless others. Through it all, he remained fiercely loved. He leaves behind Sharon, their children, and grandchildren, along with millions of fans and decades of music.