10 songs to remember Ozzy Osbourne, the great Black Sabbath frontman
A godfather and force of heavy metal, Osbourne died Tuesday at 76, just weeks after his last performance.
The English icon's idiosyncratic, throaty voice launched generations of metalheads, both through his work at the reins of Black Sabbath and in his solo career. Across his repertoire, there are songs with total global ubiquity and lesser-known innovations with his unique, spooky aesthetic quality.
To celebrate Osbourne's life and legacy, we've selected just a few songs that made the man, from timeless tunes to a few left-of-center selections.
It would be a challenge to name a more immediately recognisable guitar riff than the one that launches Black Sabbath's 1970 megahit Iron Man .
It transcends the metal genre - an all-timer heard around the world and in guitar stores everywhere.
One of the great Vietnam War protest songs, Black Sabbath's War Pigs is a rare moment where hippies and metalheads can agree: "Politicians hide themselves away/ They only started the war/ Why should they go out to fight?" Osbourne sings in the bridge.
Osbourne's heaviest performances are at least partially indebted to Black Sabbath's bassist and lyricist Terry Geezer Butler, and there is perhaps no better example than Children of the Grave , the single from the band's 1971 album, Master of Reality .
"Must the world live in the shadow of atomic fear?" Osbourne embodies Butler's words, a sonic fist lifted in the air. "Can they win the fight for peace or will they disappear?"
Rock musicians (L-R) Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Nikki Sixx pose during a news conference in Los Angeles April 30, 2010 announcing the lineup for their OZZFest concert tour which kicks off August 14, 2010 in San Bernardino, California. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo
Black Sabbath were in a creative rut in the time period leading up to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath , the opening track from their 1973 album of the same name.
It's almost hard to believe now - the song features one of their best-known riffs, and its chorus features some truly ascendant vocals.
Would the world know what a vibraslap sounds like without the immediately recognisable introduction to Osbourne's first solo single, Crazy Train ?
To call it a classic is almost a disservice - it is an addicting tune, complete with chugging guitars and Cold War-era fears.
Ozzy Osbourne, of Black Sabbath, performs at Ozzfest on Sept. 24, 2016, in San Bernardino, Calif. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
Another classic cut from Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard Of Ozz - released one year after Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath for his legendary excesses, - the arena rock anthem Mr. Crowley pays tribute to the famed English occultist Aleister Crowley and features Deep Purple's Don Airey on keyboard.
The title track and coda of Osbourne's second solo studio album, Diary of a Madman , runs over six minutes long, features big strings and a choir so theatrical it sounds like they're scoring a medieval war film. He wanted big, he wanted dramatic, and he nailed it.
It wouldn't be inaccurate to call Mama, I'm Coming Home a beautiful-sounding song. It's unlike anything on this list, a power ballad featuring lyrics written by the late Motörhead frontman Lemmy and a welcomed deviation.
Singer Ozzy Osbourne performs during halftime of an NFL football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills in Inglewood, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2022. — Photo: AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File
In the early '90s, Osbourne announced a short-lived retirement from music - one that ended with the release of 1995's Ozzmosis . There's a lot to love here - in particular, the haunting, full-throated chorus of Perry Mason .
Late in life Ozzy Osbourne was generous with his time and talent, often collaborating with younger performers who idolised the metal legend. One such example is Post Malone's Take What You Want , which also features the rapper Travis Scott.
Osbourne gives the song a necessary gothic edge - validating the otherwise balladic song's use of a sprightly guitar solo. – AP
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