Ozzy Osbourne's most shocking moments
Drug and alcohol use often fuelled manic behaviour in front of his adoring audiences, and also his most crazed moments in between shows.
These are some of the most memorable and infamous moments from the hell-raising life of the late heavy metal pioneer.
The Alamo
In 1982, Osbourne was wearing one of his wife's dresses for a photoshoot close to The Alamo in Texas, the site of a heroic sacrifice by the Texan troops against the invading Mexicans.
The rock star drunkenly relieved himself on a cenotaph commemorating the dead, later donating thousands to the group which maintains The Alamo.
A post shared by Ozzy Osbourne (@ozzyosbourne)
In the midst of an alcohol and drug haze, Osbourne said that he set about slaughtering 17 cats with a shotgun.
The rocker said he was found by his wife under a piano, armed with a knife in one hand and a shotgun in the other.
Ants
Osbourne toured with Motley Crue in the 1980s, and it was during this time that he is rumoured to have shocked his fellow rockers after 'spotting' a line of ants.
Bassist Nikki Sixx claimed that Osbourne took a straw and, as if snorting cocaine, hoovered the line of ants up his nose.
Bats
In 1982, Osbourne was on stage at a gig in Des Moines, Iowa, during a US tour.
A fan threw a bat on stage, and in the frenzy of performance Osbourne – believing it to be rubber – bit its head off. There remains debate as to whether the bat was alive or dead when it was thrown on stage.
Happy National Bat Day 🦇 https://t.co/bqcygv0BII pic.twitter.com/zrqJafayA8
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) April 17, 2025
Doves
Osbourne had history with the decapitation of winged creatures, beginning with an incident which stunned CBS Records executives.
Celebrating a new album in 1981, the Black Country-born rock star was intending to release two doves in a symbolic act at the record label. Instead, he grabbed a dove and bit its head off, before being thrown out of the building.
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Daily Record
18 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Airdrie artist wowed Ozzy Osbourne with portrait less than two weeks before music legend passed away
Ozzy was a "hero" to David McDonagh, who runs his own business, Lewy L. Paintings, and works on comic book art portraits and pop art. An Airdrie artist wowed legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne with his portrait of the Black Sabbath frontman less than two weeks before the icon passed away. The music world was stunned yesterday with the news Ozzy died at the age of 76 surrounded by his loving family. Ozzy was a "hero" to David McDonagh, who runs his own business, Lewy L. Paintings, and works on comic book art portraits and pop art. David finally got to meet the heavy metal star in the singer's home town of Birmingham on July 12 - and was thrilled by his response to his colourful artwork. David told Lanarkshire Live: "I met Ozzy in Birmingham a week after his Back to the Beginning farewell gig. "After years and years of trying to meet him, I finally got the chance to shake the hand of one of my heroes and show him my artwork. "When he saw the painting, he responded, 'that's nice that, I like it', which blew my mind. "I also got to meet Sharon, Jack and Kelly [Osbourne] and they were such a friendly bunch. "It took me a week to come down from the meeting and then the heartbreaking news came in yesterday about Ozzy passing away. "I cannot believe he is gone, it's so sad. "He was a music legend and an icon to so many. I will never forget meeting Ozzy." David added: "I called my first bulldog Ozzy as we got him when The Osbournes TV was on. "When I met Jack I gave him some artwork of Lola the bulldog from the show and he was really chuffed." David has shared special moments with many famous faces from the worlds of film, music, football and wrestling, including Andy Serkis, Robert Carlyle, The Undertaker, Ally McCoist, Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, Meat Loaf and Liam Gallagher. He said: 'Working as an artist is my dream job; that's what I wanted to be when I was at school but got it knocked out of me when I was told it wasn't a 'real job'. 'But I've proved that it is a real job and the timing was just right to become a full-time artist as I was juggling a full-time job with painting at night. 'I decided it was getting too much and handed my notice in and just went for it, with great support from fellow artists.' *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
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EXCLUSIVE How Ozzy Osbourne prepared for the show of a lifetime: Ailing rocker, 76, spent final days recuperating in 'rehab wing' of his Buckinghamshire mansion to get strong for farewell gig
Taking to the stage less than three weeks before his sudden death at the age of 76, Ozzy Osbourne gave the show of his life at Villa Park. But Back to the Beginning - which reunited Ozzy with the original Black Sabbath line-up on stage for the first time in 20 years - had not been some off-the-cuff final bow. Save for a surprise appearance at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in his native Birmingham - leaning against a bracket for support - the Godfather of Heavy Metal had been 'laid up', as he put it, for more than six years. For what would be his last hurrah he needed to be in peak condition - and after a long delay, he returned to Britain earlier this year to prepare for the show like a 'warrior', sources told MailOnline. Ozzy and Sharon's Buckinghamshire pile, Welders House, was waiting - a 125-year-old Grade II listed country escape with a 350-acre estate, which they snapped up in the summer of 1993 for an undisclosed sum. Ahead of his arrival, it had been kitted out with a dedicated rehab wing, swimming pool and pond for his return - built in sympathetic red brick to match the original house, which it almost threatens to dwarf. Heading back to the UK had been on the cards since 2022 - not for Ozzy's health, but to escape what he called the 'f****** ridiculous' rise in gun violence in the US. Planning documents for a health and welfare exercise suite, a swimming pool, and decking were submitted to the local council in March that year. But his battle with Parkinson's and a crippling fall that exacerbated his old quad bike injury are thought to have delayed his return to the UK - and even reportedly put paid to BBC series Home To Roost, that was set to follow the homecoming. Ozzy had postponed the end of his No More Tours II tour due to a collection of maladies: an infection in his hand, the flu, pneumonia, surgeries, the 2019 fall in his bathroom that damaged his neck, already fragile after the 2003 accident. 'It just seems that since October (2018), everything I touch has turned to s***,' he quipped as he announced the first of the delays. Covid delayed the tour further until, in early 2023, he announced he would tour no more. But that was never going to stop the Sabbath frontman - ever one for spectacle - from playing one last show in his home city, Birmingham. And when he and Sharon made the move back to England permanent in March this year, the rehab wing was ready and waiting for him. Papers partially redacted for the singer's privacy detail how Ozzy was set to have everything he needed to push back against Parkinson's and old injuries. The extension, it was noted, would feature 'an abundance of stopping and sitting' spaces, 'discreet grab rails and aids' and 'soft non-slip surfaces' as well as a self-contained nurse's flat. Alongside the pool room orangery, there is a spa pool, a dedicated health and wellness suite inside what was a garage, a dedicated wet room and a studio for Ozzy. The rock legend said he had been training with three-minute walks and weightlifting ahead of the final show (seen here in the Monsterpalooza 'training' video) with hand weights The extension is 'largely lit by natural light with folding doors' leading to the garden, which now has a pond built to the south of the house, with its own island and water feature - uncharacteristically bright facilities for the self-titled Prince of Darkness. The upgrades also included new CCTV cameras - including a thermal imaging camera based close to the end of the driveway leading up to the house, and others with built-in analytics software. Planning officers green-lit the project in May 2022 - noting that it met the 'ongoing and progressive medical needs of the current owner' - and the project has since been completed. But Ozzy was unable to make full use of the facilities for years - the relocation delayed by his ongoing health issues. 'It just seems that every time we're set to go, something happens with Ozzy's health,' Sharon said on the family's podcast a year ago. 'We'll get there. We wanna go back so bad, but we'll get there.' Ozzy finally returned to the UK in March after reportedly being given the thumbs-up by doctors. A month beforehand, he had made what would be his last major announcement: Back To The Beginning, with the original Sabbath line-up, at Villa Park in July. He said at the time: 'It's my time to go back to the beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born. How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.' Sharon, it was said, was the one who 'worked her a***' to get the show - a medley of metal supergroups and huge bands like Pantera, Slater, Metallica and Alice In Chains - off the ground. Then the real work began. Sources close to Ozzy told MailOnline he took on the training like a 'warrior', determined to get fighting fit for the grand finale. The star lifted weights, went for three-minute walks and had a vocal coach visiting four times a week to keep his voice strong. He told Sirius XM in May: 'I'm waking up in my body, you know? I mean, three minutes to you, for instance, is nothing, but I've been laying on my back recovering from umpteen surgeries. 'I've been lying on my back doing nothing and the first thing to go is your strength. It's like starting all over again. 'I've got a vocal coach coming round four days a week to keep my voice going. I have problems walking. I also get blood pressure issues, from blood clots on my legs. 'I'm used to doing two hours on stage, jumping and running around. I don't think I'll be doing much jumping or running around this time. 'I may be sitting down, but the point is I'll be there, and I'll do the best I can. So all I can do is turn up.' The source said: 'Ozzy was quite open about having all these medical tests and devices in his life in the last few months. 'He was in and out of doctors' offices because they wanted to make sure he was doing okay as he tried to get strong enough to stand on stage. 'He was always complaining: "They are taking my bloody blood pressure all the time or checking my heart with this f****** thing on my finger." 'Ozzy was a warrior though, because he was like: "I am gonna f****** get up on that stage even if they to carry me up there." 'He did say quite a lot that he so exhausted by the end of each day. It was wiping him out how hard he was working to be fit for the show.' Ozzy trained 'constantly... seven days a week' ahead of the Villa Park swansong, with a live-in trainer monitoring his blood pressure '15 times a day' and telling him to wear a finger pulse oximeter to check his heart rate, he told Sirius XM in May. In trademark foul-mouthed style, he noted: 'F****** hell, I am constantly in training. I have got this guy who's virtually living with me and I am in bed by seven. 'I used to have to take a handful of f****** sleeping pills. Now I don't take anything.' His producer, Andrew Watt, told the Howard Stern Show the rocker had even been hitting the gym, though his body was 'not doing what he wants it to do all the time'. Referencing Black Sabbath's trademark song, Watt quipped: 'He is the real Iron Man.' The work paid off: Ozzy's swansong in front of 40,000 cheering metalheads in Villa Park - both as a solo act and with the original Black Sabbath line-up - was roundly praised by the musical press. Poised in a giant black throne, topped with a giant bat - a nod, presumably, to his infamous on-stage antics - the singer was frail, but nonetheless dominated a nine-song set of solo and Sabbath material. 'During Mama, I'm Coming Home, his struggle with pitch is both painful and moving: he seems on the brink of tears as the crowd carry him home, but brings everything back with a triumphant Crazy Train,' noted The Guardian. The Telegraph said: 'Ozzy is not the kind of character to shuffle off quietly, so he gave it one last shot, and the result was a cracked triumph.' Triumph is right: Back to the Beginning raised a total of £140million for Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Acorn Children's Hospice, according to show producer and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Ozzy had joked in May that he may not reach heaven. He said in May: 'I'm just taking it one day at a time. Ask him upstairs. In my case, the one below.'
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
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Ozzy Osbourne's life-long health battles laid bare: From teen suicide attempts and addiction to Parkinson's battle, how Black Sabbath star never let illness hold him back
Ozzy Osbourne suffered a two decade long health battle before his death at the age of 76 yesterday—but his problems began more than six decades ago. The Princess of Darkness' ill health was clear to his fans earlier this month when he performed his last ever show with his band, heavy metal legends Black Sabbath. The sell out show at Villa Park on 5 July saw the musician wheeled onto the stage in an imposing looking gothic throne, as he was unable to stand due to the effects of Parkinson's disease. Ozzy had undergone a strict training programme in order to be able to headline the show—his first in over three years after a surprise appearance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony—which turned out to be his big farewell to fans and fellow musicians. Less than a month after he triumphantly took to the stage, it was announced by his family last night that the Aston-born singer had passed away. While his official cause of death has yet to be revealed, the Mail Online can reveal that the dad-of-five had never truly experienced good health, with struggles that stretch back to his childhood. Here is a breakdown of the world's favourite chaotic rock patriarch's lifelong battles. Teenage suicide attempt According to the 2004 book 'Ordinary People: Our Story,' co-written by Ozzy and his wife, Sharon, he revealed that he suffered a series of challenges growing up as a working class child in Birmingham. Aged just 14, Ozzy admits in his book that he 'became so despondent, like someone drowning in the ocean,' that he attempted to take his own life. This followed years of bullying at school. He said: 'Tired of being called names and getting beat up, I was around 12 when I eventually started to skip school on a regular basis.' He revealed that he sought relief in alcohol, marijuana, and whatever prescription drugs he could find. 'My head was filled with these insanely dark, depressing muddled thoughts I couldn't explain,' the singer wrote. In an interview with the Mirror in 2002 the star revealed that his mental health struggles began years earlier, when he was 11, after being sexually assaulted by school bullies. Osbourne fully admitted that the experience 'completely f***ed [him] up.' Decades of addiction Years of addiction to illegal substances plagued the musician's life. From various stints in rehab, being unceremoniously sacked from the band he founded, and a run in with the law, Ozzy suffered greatly from his relationship with illegal—and legal—substances. He began smoking marijuana in childhood, but in his book revealed that it was when his bandmates introduced him to cocaine in the 1970s that his drug use changed. He began abusing prescription medication—'downers'—along with street drugs, mixing them together with no concern for the damage they could cause him physically or mentally. Ozzy said: 'I was on booze, coke, heroin, acid and Quaaludes to glue, cough syrup, Rohypnol, Klonopin, Vicodin… On more than a few occasions, I was on all of those at the same time.' Osbourne's first stint in rehab was in 1984, but it was not until thirty years later, in 2014, that he admits to taking his sobriety seriously, after seeing his son Jack also struggle with addiction. He said: 'I thought I'd be drinking to the day I die, [but] most of the people that I drank with are dead.' Parkinson's diagnosis The British musician was diagnosed with a mild form of Parkinson's disease in 2003, however he only went public with the condition in 2020. He shared his diagnosis in an interview with Good Morning America alongside Sharon. The couple met in 1970, and wed in 1982, going on to have three children, Aimee, Kelly and Jack. He shared: 'I had to have surgery on my neck which screwed all my nerves. I found out that I have a mild form of...' Struggling to finish the sentence Sharon stepped in: 'It's Parkin two which is a form of Parkinson's.' She added: 'There are so many different types of Parkinson's. It's not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination but it does affect the nerves in your body. It's like you'll have a good day, then a good day, and then a really bad day.' Caroline Rassell, CEO of Parkinson's UK, said: 'News of Ozzy Osbourne's death, so soon after his celebratory homecoming show, will come as a shock to so many. 'By speaking openly about both his diagnosis and life with Parkinson's, Ozzy and all his family helped so many families in the same situation. 'They normalised tough conversations and made others feel less alone with a condition that's on the rise and affecting more people every day. 'All of our heartfelt thoughts are with his family, friends and fans worldwide. His memory and the impact he left on the world will live on in all of them.' The proceeds from the Black Sabbath reunion earlier this month were donated to Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorns Children's Hospice. In 2003 the singer suffered a devastating quad bike accident at his Buckinghamshire home that left him with a broken neck vertebra, a broken collarbone and six broken ribs. He was forced to have extensive back surgery, and had metal rods placed in his spine. Sixteen years later in 2019 he suffered a nasty fall at home, which dislodged the metal rods and began the health nightmare that would plague him until his death. Speaking about the 2019 fall, he told Rolling Stone UK: 'It really knocked me about. The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled.' 'I thought I'd be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one, they put a [rod] in my spine.' He also revealed doctors found a tumor in his back at the time, 'so they had to dig all that out too'. Hospitalised with flu In February 2019, Sharon revealed he had been admitted to hospital after suffering from flu and had experienced 'complications' from the illness. Sharon tweeted: 'As some of you may have heard, Ozzy was admitted to hospital following some complications from the flu. His doctors feel this is the best way to get him on a quicker road to recovery. Thanks to everyone for their concern and love.' The illness led to him cancelling a string of tour dates while he recovered, including postponing the UK and European legs of his No More Tours 2. Further spinal surgery From 2023 onwards the Black Sabbath star underwent a number of surgeries on his back. In an attempt to stand on stage for the band's reunion tour he was moved to a specialist rehab therapist in Los Angeles to try to help him stand for several minutes on stage, walk more freely and feel better balanced. Speaking on SiriusXM's, he said: 'You know what, I go on about the way I can't walk and I can't do this, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all of my complaining, I'm still alive.' He continued: 'I may be moaning about how I can't walk as well but as I look down the road, there's people that didn't do half as much as me, and they didn't make it.' 'I'm trying to get back on my feet.' Host Billy Morrison added: 'Ozzy, you are so much better than you were just a year ago.' He replied: 'Yeah, but the recovery is very slow. That f***ing surgeon. Plus the Parkinson's. When you get up in the morning, you just jump outta bed. Oh I have to balance myself, you know?
