Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne dies at the age of 76 weeks after farewell show
A statement from his family 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.'
He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019.
Advertisement
Earlier this month he bid a farewell to fans with a Black Sabbath reunion, telling thousands of heavy metal enthusiasts at Villa Park, Birmingham – a stone's throw from where Black Sabbath was formed in 1968 – that it was 'so good to be on this stage' as he performed his last set from a large black throne.
Osbourne and his fellow original Black Sabbath members – Tony Iommi, Terence 'Geezer' Butler and Bill Ward – were the last to appear on stage as part of a star-studded line-up for the Back to the Beginning concert.
Also among the bands performing were Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N' Roses, and there were messages of thanks from other celebrities, including Jack Black, Ricky Gervais and Dolly Parton.
As frontman of Black Sabbath, he was at the forefront of the heavy metal scene – a deeper, darker offshoot of hard rock.
His theatrical stage presence, including once biting off the head of a bat, and styling himself as the Prince of Darkness marked him out as a controversial figure.
Born John Michael Osbourne on 3 December 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, he left school at 15 and did odd jobs including factory work before teaming up with school friend Geezer Butler in several bands.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Extra.ie
41 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Kelly Osbourne breaks silence after dad Ozzy's funeral
The world was in mourning for the last two weeks following the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, with his funeral taking place earlier this week. Family, friends and fans gathered in Birmingham on Wednesday as the Black Sabbath star was laid to rest. Ozzy's devoted wife, Sharon, was visibly emotional as fans shouted 'Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy' during the procession through the streets in honour of the heavy metal star. Kelly, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Pic:Ozzy, who played a farewell gig in the city earlier this month, passed away 'surrounded by loved ones' at the age of 76 last Tuesday. Sharon could be seen hugging the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Zafar Iqbal, after she arrived at the Black Sabbath bench where floral tributes were laid. Joining her at the event were their three children, Aimee, Jack and Kelly. Jack, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne view tributes to Ozzy. Pic:Since the funeral, daughter Kelly has broken her social media silence to share a bold floral tribute to her beloved dad, which reads 'OZZY F*****G OSBOURNE' on the banks of the Osbourne lake. Ozzy, who left behind an eye-watering net worth of $220 million, was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in February 2019. Born John Michael Osbourne on December 3, 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, he left school at 15 years old and did odd jobs, including factory wor,k before teaming up with school friend Geezer Butler in several bands. Ozzy Osbourne. Pic:After a number of endeavours, Black Sabbath was formed (first called Earth but renamed due to a band of the same name). The band was made up of Geezer and Ozzy, along with Tony Iommi and Bill Ward. The band released 19 albums, with Ozzy at the forefront of the heavy metal scene due to his role as lead singer. His theatrical stage presence, including once biting off the head of a bat, and styling himself as the Prince of Darkness, marked him out as a controversial figure. Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne. Pic:Ozzy also had an illustrious solo career, releasing 13 albums, with his last, Patient Number 9, released in 2022. The musician married twice, first to Thelma Riley, whom he met in 1971. The couple share Jessica and Louis, with Ozzy later adopting Thelma's son from a previous relationship, Elliot. Ozzy and Thelma divorced in 1982, with the singer going on to marry his manager, Sharon. The pair share three children — Aimee, Sharon and Jack, with the younger two going on to star in The Osbournes with their parents from 2002 to 2005.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ozzy Osbourne's fond send-off was the least depressing thing on the news
'Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy,' the crowds chanted as Ozzy Osbourne 's funeral cortege paused at Black Sabbath Bridge, in his home city of Birmingham, and his widow and children laid their own flowers amid the amassed bouquets, fan-sketched portraits, customised football scarves and bat-shaped balloons. Amid the litany of abject grimness otherwise known as just another summer news bulletin, it was heavy-metal fans who provided the unity and warmth of spirit. Through tears, Sharon Osbourne, the singer's wife, flashed them a peace sign; their daughter Kelly waved to onlookers. The Black Sabbath frontman said he wanted his funeral to be a celebration, not a 'mope-fest', and though the ceremony itself was private, the procession lived up to his desired billing, with the hearse preceded by a local brass band playing Sabbath tunes and the gathered thousands chipping in both reverent vocals and swells of raucous appreciation. 'That was worse than the queen, that was,' one male fan reckoning with his emotions told the BBC. Television coverage of this public homage to the 'Prince of Darkness' did indeed have the touch of a royal event about it, with reporters vox-popping fans about what Ozzy meant to them and why they had come. READ MORE The difference was that John Michael Osbourne, possessing no birthright whatsoever, had actually moved culture along in his time, and this was a day laced with humour, relatability and grit. Love for Ozzy was not only wrapped in municipal pride but also inseparable from the reassuring sense of belonging that being a fan of certain bands or genres of music gives people – or used to, at least. Watching this salute, I was struck by the feeling that we are close to the start of what is likely to be an inverted U-shaped graph of music-superstar send-offs, ones where people are given the chance to pay mass tribute to shared idols. There's definitely more to come, a lot more. [ Interviewing Ozzy Osbourne: 'You can't live that way forever. It catches up with you eventually' Opens in new window ] I remember thinking during the televised funeral of Shane MacGowan – complete with the church rendition of Fairytale of New York by a supergroup of musical luminaries – in December 2023 that this was a gloriously new benchmark, one that the families of other artists would be inspired to replicate when the time comes. But once all the icons whose careers thrived in more culturally finite times are gone, then what? It's not that you need a monolithic music scene or analogue broadcasting industry for moments of cohesion like these. Heavy metal was always much marginalised by the media. But you do need a world that hasn't fallen victim to the dead hand of tech platforms that simultaneously flatten out music culture and fragment it to the point where its role in identity formation is now much less potent than before. 'Is Gen X dying before our eyes?' the Hollywood Reporter wondered last week. Before our eyes! I hope not. (Osbourne himself, born in 1948, predates it.) Still, despite the Black Mirror-ish image this headline conjured up, the article wasn't wrong when it cited the death of Kurt Cobain, in April 1994, as the defining event for a generation characterised in youth as disaffected and doom-filled. Shown on MTV News throughout that year as mourning snowballed, footage from the Seattle vigil for the Nirvana singer burned on my teenage brain. I'd never heard anything as raw in my life as Courtney Love's taped message to fans, in which she read out part of her husband's suicide note while simultaneously railing against its most dangerous assertions. Preserved on YouTube , the stunned silence of the crowd remains palpable, and – whether it was a wise thing to do or not – you can almost see Cobain's legacy embedding itself in the cultural soil in real time. When we're let into someone else's shock and pain like this, it alters our relationship with celebrity. Expectations change. MTV, by then already pioneering the reality genre with The Real World, played its part in shifting fan culture away from one of distant, unknowable icons into something messier, more open, more confessional. Ozzy Osbourne funeral: a street artist adds to a Black Sabbath mural in Birmingham. Photograph: Joanna Yee/New York Times It was later the home of The Osbournes, of course, which is the unrepeatable facet of Ozzy's story: here was a musician who built his base in a finite, terrestrial landscape, achieved a new style of fame via a cable-TV megahit and died in the era of social media and live streaming. For devotees beyond Birmingham, there was a link to follow the procession as it passed Black Sabbath Bridge. This yielded hunger for more access, with some YouTube commenters disappointed that it turned out to be a fixed street camera with no sound – they were advised to consult fan-made videos instead. Even without comparable hometown-hero status, waves of household-name artists whose careers straddled similar eras are on track to receive huge, internet-fuelled public goodbyes, in which pure admiration mingles with personal nostalgia and sentiment. But will any of them be as uplifting and uncomplicated and fond as Ozzy Osbourne's? That seems more doubtful.
The Irish Sun
18 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ozzy Osbourne's meaningful gift to huge rock star pictured in tribute post hours after private funeral
A TOP rock star has shared a brand new photo of the meaningful gift Ozzy Osbourne shared with him before his death. Yungblud, 27, enjoyed an incredibly close bond with Ozzy in the years leading up to his death with the Black Sabbath frontman acting as a mentor to the star - whose real name is Dominic Harrison - prior to his passing. 4 Yungblud has paid another touching tribute to his idol Ozzy Osbourne Credit: Instagram 4 Yungblud has now shared a close-up pic of the necklace in a tribute post Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 4 Ozzy at his final gig in Birmingham earlier this year Credit: Reuters Now, in a new social media post following Ozzy's private funeral, Yungblud has shared a photo of the necklace which Ozzy gave to him back in 2022. Ozzy gave him the cross necklace in 2022 whilst he was recording a music video for his track, The Funeral. The pair enjoyed a close bond often likened to father and son with Yungblud going onto return the favour by gifting Ozzy his own custom-made cross necklace backstage at his final ever gig in Villa Park, Birmingham. Clearly a symbol of their bond, Yungblud has now shared a close-up image of the pendant alongside a heartfelt caption. Read more on Ozzy osbourne He wrote: "Goodnight oz. your light will forever shine. I love you." It is understood that Yungblud gave a touching reading at his private funeral on Thursday. Ozzy was laid to rest next to the lake in his Buckinghamshire home. A wreath, which read: 'Ozzy f***ing Osbourne,' was placed by the bank of the water as 110 of Ozzy's nearest and dearest joined his wife Sharon and his children Jack , 39, , 40, , 41, and , 50, who is Ozzy's son from his first marriage to Thelma Riley, for the service. Most read in Celebrity A family friend told The Sun that Ozzy and Sharon's home was decorated with pictures of the Black Sabbath rocker - and that they They added: 'Ozzy's service was a beautiful tribute. As well as tears, there was laughter.' YUNGBLUD - teresa The road leading to Ozzy and Sharon's home, close to Gerrards Cross, was closed from 1pm. Guests were sent a simple black invitation with a picture of a cross that read: 'In loving memory of Ozzy Osbourne.' Mourners were transported from The Crowne Plaza and The Bull in Gerrards Cross to the house at 2pm, with the service starting at 3pm. Security teams were also in place to ensure the safety of those attending. A friend told The Sun: "There was a stage where people including Yungblud, who grew very close to Ozzy in recent years, were set to pay tribute to him. 'The day was incredibly emotional. Pictures of Ozzy were dotted throughout the house and a photograph of him was given to everyone who attended to take home with them.' 4 Sharon was left devastated following his passing Credit: Getty
