Inside Ozzy Osbourne's 1982 bat-biting debacle that became part of rock history
The Black Sabbath frontman died on Tuesday, July 22, surrounded by his loved ones at the age of 76, The Post confirmed.
'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,' the family said in a statement.
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The statement was signed by Osbourne's wife of over 40 years, Sharon, their three children, daughters Kelly, 40, and Aimee, 41, and son Jack, 39.
It also included the musician's other son, Louis, whom he shared with his first wife, Thelma Riley, but not the rocker's two other kids: Jessica, 45, or Elliot Kingsley, whom he adopted with Thelma.
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While the heavy metal God was a brilliant musician, his issues with substance abuse, his family's wacky dynamic playing out on one of the first reality shows, MTV's 'The Osbournes,' and his health battles in recent years (he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease) often took center stage.
However, he was also responsible for one of the wildest moments in rock 'n' roll history — biting the head off a real bat over 40 years ago.
The wild event unfolded on Jan. 20, 1982, at the Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium during his 'Diary of a Madman' tour.
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At the time, the rocker developed a sickening ritual where he'd throw raw meat at concertgoers and they'd toss whatever bizarre item they snuck into the show right back.
During this performance in particular, someone chucked a real-life bat on the stage, which the Black Sabbath singer mistakenly thought was fake.
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To the audience's horror, Osbourne's mouth filled with blood, and he immediately knew he had been fooled.
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The 'Paranoid' singer spoke about the cringe moment in his 2020 documentary, 'The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne.'
'I thought it was a rubber bat,' he recalled. 'I picked it up, put it in my mouth, crunched down, bit into it, being the clown that I am.'
Noting that bats 'are the biggest carriers of rabies in the world,' Osbourne explained what unfolded after.
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'I had to go to the hospital afterwards and they started giving me rabies shots. I had one one each rear and I had to have that every night,' he continued.
Regarding why he decided to throw sickening things like raw meat at his fans in the first place, Osbourne shared, 'I always liked old movies that used to have these custard-pie fights.
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'It gave me this idea to throw, instead of pie, bits of meat and animal parts into the audience. I thought it was hilarious. [They'd throw back] sheep testicles, live snakes, dead rats, all kinds of things. Someone once threw a live frog onto onstage. It was the biggest frog I'd ever seen, and it landed on its back,' he said.
The bat-biting debacle launched Osbourne into mainstream fame, even landing him on 'The David Letterman Show.'
However, Osbourne soon grew tired of the gag.
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'It got to the point where people expected me to do crazier and crazier things,' he recalled. 'I'll tell you what guys — it ain't fun when you get them rabies shots.'
More to come…
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