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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Really Happened When Ozzy Osbourne Bit Off the Head of a Bat—'Something Felt Wrong…'
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Ozzy Osbourne's passing on July 22, 2025, has left people not just mourning the legendary Black Sabbath singer but reminiscing on his long career. And considering his status as a rock star, it's not surprising that there are some very wild stories about Osbourne. In the world of rock, shocking behavior is pretty much mandatory, after all. But perhaps one of his most shocking stunts came when Osbourne, who was nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, bit the head off a bat. Today's Top Deals This Brightening Eye Stick Has Even Converted Non-Believers—Grab It on Sale From Amazon for $10 'Skeptical' Shoppers Say This Snail Mucin Face Mask Vanishes Wrinkles After 2 Weeks—& It's Now Under $2 I Found a Discounted Baggu Crescent Bag Lookalike on Amazon & It's $24 Cheaper Than the Original Yes, that's right, in what is considered one of the most notorious moments in heavy metal history, Osbourne literally bit the head off a bat on 20 January 1982, during a show at Des Moines' Veterans Memorial Auditorium. But why did he? And was it all staged? Related: Who are Ozzy Osbourne's kids? The answer is actually no. Though Osbourne's recollections of the matter changed frequently, this fact remains unambiguous. But how we got there actually makes sense. In January 1982, Osbourne was promoting his second solo album, Diary of a Madman. And part of his interaction with the public had become a rather gruesome tradition: Osbourne would throw pieces of raw meat and animal parts, including intestines and liver. into the audience. Audiences would sometimes retaliate. So, when something small and black landed on stage during that show, Osbourne thought it was a rubber toy. In his 2010 autobiography, I Am Ozzy, the singer recalled picking it up, stuffing it in his mouth, and biting hard. I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne On Sale 13% off $23.28 Buy Now On Amazon 'Immediately, though, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start, my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid,' he wrote. 'Then the head in my mouth twitched.' It gets more disgusting. 'Somebody threw a bat. I just thought it was a rubber bat. And I picked it up and put it in my mouth. I bit into it,' he said. But he quickly realized, 'Oh no, it's real. It was a real live bat.' However, Osbourne's story changed a few times. In a 2006 BBC interview, he said: 'This bat comes on. I thought it was one of them Hallowe'en joke bats 'cos it had some string around its neck.' Which is why he bit into it. 'I bite into it, and I look to my left, and Sharon [Osbourne, his wife and manager] was going [gesturing no]. And I'm like, what you talking about? She [says], 'it's a dead real bat'. And I'm… I know now!' But was the bat dead or alive? According to the Des Moines Register, the man who brought it to the concert was named Mark Neal, and when he brought the animal into the concert, it had already been dead for days. One thing is for sure: Osbourne did bite into it, whether it was alive or not at the time. And it wasn't even the only time he bit into an animal. During a meeting with a group of CBS record label executives in Los Angeles, Osbourne bit the head off a dove. That story also changes a little. He told rock biographer Mick Wall that a PR woman at the meeting was annoying him. According to Wall's book, Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe, he 'pulled out one of these doves and bit its [expletive] head off just to shut her up.' Not just that, 'Then I did it again with the next dove,' he added, 'spitting the head out on the table.' Osbourne himself told a different story. 'The scam is the bird was dead. We were planning to release it there, but it died beforehand. So rather than waste it, I bit its head off.' But one thing remains true in both stories, whether the animal was alive or dead, Osbourne really did bite its head off. Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Laughing and out of breath, he thanked us for the snowball fight': fans on the magic of Ozzy Osbourne
I interviewed Ozzy in 1997, for Kerrang! magazine. We met in a hotel on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where he proceeded to drink gallons of Diet Coke, and take the piss out of himself. He was the least pretentious rock star I ever met, and during my decade in the industry, I met hundreds. By the time I met Ozzy, I'd had enough of music journalism. I decided he should be my final interview because how do you beat that? I'd interviewed everyone I'd ever wanted to, including Nirvana, so it made sense to end my music journalism career by chatting with Ozzy. Ozzy was so self-effacing and hilarious. He told me about becoming partially deaf while working in a factory testing car horns, how he'd thought Spinal Tap was a documentary about Black Sabbath, and how the band named themselves after a horror movie for a joke. He was already shaking back then, and seemed very small and frail, but he had this gorgeous twinkling quality, which I certainly hadn't expected to encounter in the Prince of Darkness. And he clearly couldn't do a thing without Sharon, which he was more than happy to admit. Liz Evans, Tasmania, Australia My first ever gig was Ozzfest 2002 at Donington. I was so excited, I dyed my hair black and carried a wallet chain thick enough to tie up a ship. When I arrived, a guy in a top hat with a voice like the devil said I'd be 'lucky if I made it out alive'. I'd largely wanted to go because of System of a Down. But Ozzy was the show stealer. I'd become familiar with him due to the The Osbournes, then got into Black Sabbath. There was no other performer like him over the weekend. This – what I thought at the time – old guy had more energy than the younger bands put together. Needless to say, I was hooked on metal from that point onwards. Because of that festival so many bands got their big breaks. He not only invented metal with Sabbath but continued to support the genre the rest of his days. James, Cambridge I was a fairly obsessive heavy rock fan in my teens, and first saw Ozzy live when I was 16 at a one-day heavy metal festival at Port Vale's football ground in Stoke-on-Trent in 1981, alongside a few other bands including Motörhead. A couple of years later I was at university in Sheffield, and saw him for a second time at the City Hall. Afterwards, a friend and I got tipped off about which hotel the band were staying in, so we gatecrashed the residents-only bar and ended up spending an hour or two in the company of Ozzy, Sharon, and the rest of the band. He was an absolute gentleman, happily putting up with a bunch of geeky 18-year-old fans asking him loads of questions, and he insisted on buying multiple rounds of drinks for everyone in the bar. Before we departed he also decided to sign our foreheads 'Ozzy was here' with a Sharpie, as per the photo – earning us a huge amount of credibility when we finally got back to our hall of residence. What an absolute legend of a man – definitely one of a kind. Nick Payne, St Albans As teenagers in the early 1980s we all used to go to venues early and hang around the loading areas and back-stage entrances, on the off-chance of picking up an autograph or seeing a rock star. We did so during the Blizzard of Ozz tour, which were his first UK appearances since being sacked from Sabbath. We got there very early, around 2pm, and turned the corner to find guitarist Randy Rhoads and Ozzy himself, sat quietly having a cup of tea. We gathered tentatively and joined him. Rhoads and Ozzy gave off an air of openness and gentle bonhomie. This wasn't the Prince of Darkness, but a slightly apprehensive man who was hoping that the fans would accept his new musical incarnation. He was humble, communicative and very patient. It was like sitting with a mate's older brother, shooting the breeze for 20 minutes. After he and Randy went back in to sound check, we all remained stunned for a few moments. We'd had a cup of tea with the Prince of Darkness, and it turned out he was a really nice bloke. It's a real shame that successive generations only know him as the sometimes incoherent, grumpy old man of the TV show, The Osbournes. As in his heyday, he was the funniest and most disarming of all of the 1980s rock gods. Van Norris, Hampshire I was lucky enough to see Black Sabbath at Download festival in 2012. Ozzy was already a huge legend but hadn't done a show in a while and we went genuinely thinking that it may be the last chance to see him. When he wobbled out on to the stage, clearly a bit frail, I was worried. Oh no, I thought, this is a cash grab and he's really not up to it anymore ... but then he opened his mouth, and wow. His voice was still all there – it was like listening to him in his heyday. I'm still agog at how good he was. And he was clearly enjoying himself immensely. We've lost a great. Coral Pearce-Mariner, Norfolk In February 1972, during the Master of Reality tour, my father was due to pick me and my mates up after the gig at De Montfort Hall in Leicester, but was delayed by the bad weather. We hung round the back stage door and eventually the band came out. We spoke to all of them but it was Ozzy and Bill who gave us the most time. Ozzy threw the first snowball at us. We then had an amazing snowball fight with Ozzy and Bill which seemed to go on for ages. Ozzy, laughing and out of breath, thanked us for the fight and left with Bill covered in snow. For four kids from a small rural town it was magical. The gig was incredible. Gazza, Leicester I saw Ozzy when I was 17, at one of the very first gigs they played as Black Sabbath, at a mini festival organised by the Midlands Arts Centre for Young People in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, on bank holiday Monday, 1 September 1969. They'd originally been billed as Earth, but by the time they went on stage, they had become Black Sabbath. Rumours abounded that they had played at a school dance at the Convent of the Holy Child Jesus school in Edgbaston, where they had performed with a huge inverted crucifix on the stage behind them, much to the outrage of the nuns who ran the school. Because we knew most of the security crew at the festival, we watched them from backstage. Though they didn't have top billing, it was clear even then that they were the best band on stage that day, and that Ozzy had incredible charisma. That autumn, before they became nationally famous, I remember they occasionally used to turn up in the coffee bar at the arts centre where I and my friends hung out. Did I ever dare to speak to the Prince of Darkness? I doubt it, but he might once have asked me for a light ... When their first album came out the following year, I decided to model my own look on the spooky proto-Goth lady, dressed all in black, on the front cover. To my mind, that's still their best album, and I have it still; it sums up for me the cusp between the 60s and the 70s, and the awkward but euphoric liminal space between my adolescence and adulthood. Jenni Mills, Wiltshire The importance and significance of both Ozzy and Sabbath only truly sunk into my brain during the Back to the Beginning gig on 5 July, which I saw on live stream. It was a wonderful day seeing so many of my favourite bands pay tribute. The nail was finally hit on the head seeing Ozzy at the end. Some members of the crowd were in tears to see him performing well despite his physical deterioration. I wasn't sad for him at all – he looked like he was having the time of his life. I've also seen plenty of Ozzy live and am blown away by his stage persona. Thanks for everything, oh Prince of Darkness! George Heron, Liverpool
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ozzy Osbourne's adopted son's life out of the spotlight: How Elliot ditched the UK for a quiet life in New Zealand as he's excluded from family tribute (and his job is a far cry from the world of rock n'roll!)
's adopted son Elliot is living a quiet life as an IT technician in New Zealand after he was noticeably left out of his family's tribute to the rockstar following his death. Despite growing up with the Black Sabbath frontman and his first wife Thelma Riley, Elliot Osbourne did not feature on the family's statement announcing his death on Tuesday, with only his daughters Aimee and Kelly, and sons Jack and Louis named. Now, it can be revealed that Elliot ditched his life in the UK five years ago to start again in Wellington with his wife Joanne Crawford, an Occupational Health academic who originally hails from Scotland. Ozzy has six children from two marriages, but only four of his offspring were named in the statement announcing his death, with Jessica and Elliot noticeably absent. The star adopted Elliot during his first marriage to wife Thelma when he was just five years old. Elliot is yet to speak publicly about his father's death, but his brother Louis has shared his devastation by changing his Facebook profile picture to an all-black screen. Ozzy died on Tuesday after battling Parkinson's Disease for six years, just weeks after Black Sabbath performed their final show together in their hometown. Growing up with his father in Birmingham, Elliot attended King Edward VI High School, in Stafford, and previously studied at Birmingham College. He and Joanne lived in the city until 2002, before relocating to Bathgate, West Lothan until 2013, and they have two sons, Owyn, 22, and James, 29. Pursuing a more technical career than his famous father, Elliot pursued a career in telecommunications, first working as a Collaboration Support Specialist for the company Viju, now operating under the name Kinly, in Livingston. Since he and Joanne moved to New Zealand, he has worked as a Level One Helpdesk and Support Technician for three years. Elliot was also a fan of Stoke City football club during his time in the UK, with a 2011 Facebook showing him attending one of their matches, after being interviewed by the club's local radio station. Joanne, who has a PhD in Occupational Health from the University of Surrey, boasts an extensive academic career, working as a senior lecturer in Ergonomics at University of Brimingham until 2007. For 13 years she worked at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in the Greater Edinburgh area, and since 2020, has been a professor at the Victoria University of Wellington. Joanne has also published papers on topics including 'Non-cancer occupational health risks in firefighters', and 'Older Workers in a Sustainable Society.' She has never shied away from sharing her thoughts on controversial figures including US President Donald Trump She has never shied away from sharing her thoughts on controversial figures including Donald Trump and Elon Musk. One post, shared in April, came in response to New Zealand Herald journalist Paul Thomas saying that Trump was 'everything the world despises about America.' She wrote: 'Another nearly New Zealander agrees, and suspect a few million more do too.' She also reflected on relocating to New Zealand at the height of the Covid pandemic in a 2024 post when the country shut its borders in a bid to reduce the death toll. She wrote: 'Spent 2020 in both NZ and the UK. It was a hard time in NZ but it worked. The loss of 250,000-280,000 people in the UK shows why the NZ response worked.' While little is known about Elliot and Joanne's youngest child Owyn, their second son James, who studied in Glasgow and Dundee, tied the knot with husband David Mace in New Zealand late last year. It also appears that Elliot has stayed in contact with his brother Louis, with his wife Louise, who is friends with him on Facebook, previously praising him for sending sweet gifts for their children. In posts shared on Facebook, Louise tagged Elliot and his wife in a post of presents sent for their children. One 2016 post said: 'Such excited kiddos, thank you Elliot Osbourne and Joanne Crawford for the fab gifts.' Louis now works as a DJ and married Louise Lennon, and actress and producer, in 2004, with the couple also still in contact with his sister Jessica. Ozzy was unable to attend Louis' wedding after suffering major injuries after being injured in a quad bike accident. Jessica has also stayed in contact with her brother Louis and his wife, as back in 2016, Louise posted about jetting to Tenerife to meet them. The post also stated that Louis' mother Thelma had gifted him and Louise the trip away. In the 2011 documentary film God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, produced by his son Jack, he revealed that he could not even remember when Louis and Jessica were born. Louis also opened up about growing up with a drunk father. 'When he was around and he wasn't [drunk], he was a great father,' he said in the documentary. 'But that was kind of seldom, really. I just have a lot of memories of him being drunk, random s**t like driving cars across fields and crashing them in the middle of the night and stuff like that. 'It's not good for family life, really.' His older sister, Jessica added: 'I don't remember being put to bed or having a bath by dad or anything like that. 'I wouldn't say he was there for us, no, never on sports day, school trip, parents' evening. He wasn't like that, no.' Jessica has also stayed in contact with her brother Louis and his wife, as back in 2016, Louise posted about jetting to Tenerife to meet them Jessica was the one who made Ozzy a grandparent for the first time, and despite never appearing in The Osbournes' TV show, she was mentioned in the episode 'Smells Like Teen Spirits,' when Ozzy learned that she had welcomed a daughter. She has two daughters, Isabelle and Kitty, and one son called Harry, with her husband Benjamin. After divorcing Thelma, Osbourne went on to marry Sharon in 1982. Their first child, daughter Aimee was born September 2, 1983. One year later, they welcomed daughter Kelly (born October 27, 1984), and on November 8, 1985, their son, Jack was born. Aimee - who is also a singer and performs under her initials ARO - was born in London and raised in California until the age of 16 but moved out of the family home as filming for The Osbournes began in the early 2000s. The Osbourne family shared the news of Ozzy's death in a statement on Tuesday, but both Elliot and Jessica's names were left out. It said: '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. 'He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.' MailOnline revealed on Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours. Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon may now bury Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral, as she is 'too frail' to go through a larger, public service, leaving friends 'terrified' for her. Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park Stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death. The rocker reunited with his original Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the first time since 2005 to bid an emotional farewell to his decades of performing live on stage. After selling out in minutes, over 42,000 fans packed into Villa Park for the aptly-titled Back to the Beginning show, which saw Ozzy and Black Sabbath return to their hometown - 56 years after they formed there. The final photograph of him before his death was taken on stage as he sat on a black throne aptly decorated with a bat to perform his best-known hits for his loyal fans. His final words on stage were: 'It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.'
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South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Remembering Ozzy Osbourne, enduring rock music icon and unlikely role model
Yonden Lhatoo pays tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, warts and all, recalling how the late rock star was a big influence during his school days.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Ozzy Osbourne's Eldest Kids Reacted to His Death After Being Left Out of His Family Tribute
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Today's Top Deals This Brightening Eye Stick Has Even Converted Non-Believers—Grab It on Sale From Amazon for $10 'Skeptical' Shoppers Say This Snail Mucin Face Mask Vanishes Wrinkles After 2 Weeks—& It's Now Under $2 I Found a Discounted Baggu Crescent Bag Lookalike on Amazon & It's $24 Cheaper Than the Original Ozzy Osbourne has been candid about his rockstar life and fatherhood. The Black Sabbath singer spent much of his time on the road or in front of a camera, but he was always surrounded by family love. '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,' Ozzy's family said in a statement. 'He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.' His two older children, Jessica and Elliot, were not included in the statement. Related: Sharon Osbourne Revealed What She Plans to Do With Ozzy's Fortune After He Passed— See How Much His Net Worth Was { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 2, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: 'bff268d2-093d-4084-a5b8-67255071d950', mediaId: '8c64fdab-e067-476c-b1e7-ee0c52c8faef', }).render('connatix_player_8c64fdab-e067-476c-b1e7-ee0c52c8faef_2'); }); 'The way I treated both my wives… I was a bad father, an abusive husband and I had an ego the size of India,' he admitted to The Daily Mail. 'I spent decades of my life being an absolute idiot. I've got so many regrets I can't even remember half of them. But wives and kids are right at the top. It's pointless even saying sorry. I couldn't say it enough times. All I can do is stay sober.' I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne On Sale 13% off $23.28 Buy Now On Amazon However, a confrontation with his youngest son helped him steer onto a better path. 'I had a row with Jack. I had to talk business. And I said, 'What have you ever f—g wanted? I'll give you whatever you want,'' Ozzy recalled to Variety. 'He says, 'What about a father?' That kicked me in the balls so hard. It knocked me sideways. I went, 'Oh, my God.' I'd give whatever materialistic things they ever wanted. But the most important person wasn't there.' Weeks before his last Black Sabbath show, he opened up about the possibilities of another reunion tour and confessed that he wants his last moments with his family. He told The Guardian, 'But it's time for me to spend some time with my grandkids, I don't want to die in a hotel room somewhere. I want to spend the rest of my life with my family.' Elliot Kingsley Elliot Kingsley is Ozzy Osbourne's adopted son from Thelma Riley's first marriage. Not much is known about him since he has no social media accounts. Jessica Starshine Osbourne Jessica Starshine Osbourne is Ozzy Osbourne's first biological child with Thelma Riley. She wasn't particularly close to her father during her formative years. In the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, she recounted, 'I don't remember being put to bed or having a bath by dad or anything like that,' she revealed (via the Daily Mail). 'I wouldn't say he was there for us, no—never on sports day, school trip, parents' evening. He wasn't like that, no.' Despite not being in the family statement, Jessica shared a post on her Instagram story writing, 'RIP OZZY,' and the background played her dad's 1980 hit 'Crazy Train.' Louis Osbourne Louis Osbourne is Ozzy Osbourne's second child with Thelma Riley. He's also chosen to live a more private life, and he works as an executive at Mija Recordings, which he founded in 2009. ' He was present at the final Black Sabbath show on July 5, 2025, just weeks before his dad's death. The audience showed him all the love that you'd expect and him back to them. An emotional end to a phenomenal 57 year career,' Louis wrote on Facebook after the show, per BBC. 'I had been anxious for months about this as I've been worried about my dad's ability to perform with his Parkinson's disease. I just wanted it to be a dignified send off for him. But as soon as he started singing we knew he was gonna nail it,' he added. On the day his father died, he changed his Facebook profile picture to a black square. Aimee Osbourne Aimee Osbourne is Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's first child together. She was born on September 2, 1983. Like her father, she has a career in music as the frontperson of her band ARO. She notably didn't appear in her family's reality TV show and moved out as a result. '[Aimee] felt too that she didn't want to grow up on camera. She hated the idea — it was appalling to her,' Sharon said on The Talk in 2018, per People. 'And so she left at 16 and I regret every day that she did.' Kelly Osbourne Kelly Osbourne was the second-born daughter of Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne. She catapulted into fame after she starred in their family reality show The Osbournes. She appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2009 and placed 3rd, and ended up appearing on The Masked Singer as Ladybug in Season 2. She became engaged to Slipknot's Sid Wilson at her father's final concert. 'F— off, you're not marrying my daughter,' Ozzy jokingly told Sid as seen in a video shared via Kelly's Instagram. Wilson said, 'Nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you. So, in front of your family and all of our friends, Kelly, will you marry me?' Just weeks before his death, Kelly Osbourne dispelled rumors that her father was dying due to Parkinson's disease. 'There's this video going around on social media, and it's supposed to be my dad, but it's AI,' Kelly said on her Instagram Stories July 11. 'It has a voice like my dad's David Attenborough or something. And it starts out saying, 'I don't need a doctor to tell me that I'm going to die. I know I'm going to die.'' 'What the f—k is wrong with you people?' she continued. 'Why would you spend your time making a video like this? Yes, he has Parkinson's, and yes, his mobility is completely different than it used to be, but he's not dying. What is wrong with you?' Jack Osbourne Jack Osbourne is Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's youngest child. After appearing on The Osbournes, he continued being a media personality starring in shows such as Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie (2005–2009) and BBC's Saving Planet Earth (2007). Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways
