Who is Ozzy Osbourne? From Black Sabbath's Prince Of Darkness to relationship with Sharon and reality TV stardom
The 76-year-old, whose real name is John Michael Osbourne, will reunite with his Black Sabbath bandmates at Aston Villa's Villa Park for a gig that promises to be the "greatest heavy metal show ever".
The all-day Back To The Beginning show will be the metal band's first performance together in 20 years, with original stars Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Terence 'Geezer' Butler and Bill Ward.
The comeback marks the first major show Osbourne has done since he cancelled planned gigs in Europe and the UK back in 2023, saying at that time that he is no longer "physically capable" of performing.
In 2020 the singer also revealed he has Parkinson's disease.
The show, planned for 5 July, is the latest in a career that has spanned five decades and earned Osbourne the nickname The Prince Of Darkness.
Who is Ozzy Osbourne?
Born in Birmingham, Osbourne rose to fame as a founding member and lead singer of the band Black Sabbath.
The band formed in 1968 and two years later released their self-titled debut album which included songs like The Wizard and Evil Woman.
The group's follow-up album, Paranoid, included some of the band's most famous songs including War Pigs, Iron Man, Fairies Wear Boots and Paranoid.
The record was a huge success, topping the charts in the UK and reaching no 12 in the US.
Black Sabbath went on to become one of the most successful metal bands of all time, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide over the years.
The singer went on to have success as a solo artist after leaving the band.
His solo debut album Blizzard Of Ozz reached the top 10 in the UK, and a decade later he achieved his highest-ever charting album with Ordinary Man, which featured collaborations with Elton John, Slash, Post Malone and Tom Morello.
Family life and reality TV
Away from music, Osbourne has largely shared his personal life with the public.
In 1970, he was introduced to Sharon Levy - who would later become his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne.
They went on to have three children - Aimee, Kelly and Jack Osbourne.
The family hit new heights of fame when they starred in the reality TV series The Osbournes, which followed the family during their daily lives.
The show lasted from 2002 to 2005, winning an Emmy Award.
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Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
The anti-Semitism row tearing heavy metal apart
For all its thrashing guitars and screamed lyrics, the world of heavy metal is actually relatively peaceable. Unlike other parts of the music industry, it wears its politics lightly, with fans much more interested in headbanging to their favourite songs than anything else. While this year's Glastonbury crowds were a sea of Palestine flags, hard rock fans tend not to bother with such overt virtue-signalling. So it came as a surprise that, amid the joyous scenes at Ozzy Osbourne's final gig at Birmingham's Villa Park on July 5, a performer was apparently booed for being supportive of Israel. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BUDDYHEAD ☭ Travis Keller (@buddyhead_) As David Draiman, the Jewish frontman of Chicago rockers Disturbed, took to the stage, he was met with a chorus of disapproval, likely prompted by his outspoken defence of Israel. In 2024 he shared pictures of himself signing artillery shells that the Israel Defence Forces were planning to use during the Gaza campaign, with the inscription 'F--k Hamas'. He has also publicly criticised fellow rockers Green Day for changing the lyrics to some of their live songs to be supportive of the Palestinian cause, and recently publicly condemned the controversial Glastonbury set by English punk duo Bob Vylan, who led death chants to the IDF and are now under criminal investigation. Draiman, who was part of an all-star ensemble set to cover Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf, responded by simply asking the audience: 'We gonna start this?' It was only the day after the performance that the 52-year-old Draiman let his frustration at how he was treated be known. 'Yes, there were a few boos when I walked out, but I came to pay homage to my teachers, my idols, the mighty Black Sabbath, and I wasn't about to let a few Jew-hating morons deter that. It's all about feeding their narrative, generating clickbait, and inciting hatred of Jews,' he wrote on social media. 'Still coming back to the UK in the fall to what's shaping up to be a VERY successful run, if ticket sales are any indication. And I am STILL, UNAPOLOGETICALLY, A FIERCELY PRO-ISRAEL JEW,' he added in his post on X. 'I will ALWAYS stand up for my people, and I won't be deterred, intimidated, or shamed out of rocking the asses of the masses. Put that in your pipes and smoke it.' That could have been that, pipes smoked, but it was instead an early shot in an ugly row about Israel and Palestine that threatens to tear heavy metal apart. On July 11, comments made by Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello – the organiser of the Black Sabbath gig that raised more than £140 million for charity – 10 days previously surfaced on a music podcast, on which he discussed contemporary artists who hold a similarly anti-establishment attitude. Morello, 61, said that Kneecap were 'clearly the Rage Against The Machine of now' and praised the Irish punk rappers for championing the Palestinian cause. The Belfast trio have found themselves at the centre of controversy this year for their pronouncements about the Israel-Hamas war and have regularly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. One of their number, Mo Chara (aka Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh), has been charged with a terrorism offence after allegedly displaying the flag of the Hezbollah terrorist group at a London gig last November; Ó Hannaidh denies the charges, has been granted unconditional bail and is set to appear in court again on August 20. 'What they're doing in their art is what people could probably stand to do more in their lives: to really speak truth to power. And, you know, Kneecap are not terrorists,' Morello said on The Strombo Show. 'What is terroristic is, you know, 20,000 dead Palestinian children. That's the story. Not some Irish rappers who don't like that that's happening. [That] should not be the story.' (Ironically, Osbourne's wife, Sharon, has previously called for Kneecap's American visas to be revoked for saying 'F--- Israel / Free Palestine' at California's Coachella festival in May.) For Draiman, Morello's public lauding of Kneecap was like a red rag to a bull. Draiman wrote online that Morello's comments were 'shameful' and that he wished he 'could say [he] was shocked'. He added, again on X, last Saturday: 'Guess my family doesn't count, when it comes to my 'friend's' virtue signaling for those who support terror, and incite Jew hatred.' Morello has not publicly responded to Draiman. All of this could be seen as an unwelcome distraction for Draiman, as Disturbed are one of the most successful heavy metal bands of this century. Their debut album, 2000's The Sickness, was a commercial hit powered by singles Down With the Sickness and Stupify, and their subsequent five records all hit number-one in the American charts; they have also had three top 10 albums in the UK. The success of Disturbed is often put down to their ability to combine the sounds of crowd-friendly nu-metal and lusty heavy metal, much of which is a result of Draiman's atypical baritone voice (the band regularly plays Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence, for instance). Ian Christe, author of Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, says that Draiman is 'certainly an outlier in having a specific advocacy for one cause' but that the genre's stars, from Osbourne onwards, have always been willing to make points about society through their music. 'Compared with hard rock bands of the day, like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith or Deep Purple, who were singing about girls and cars, Black Sabbath were singing about war pigs and the machinations of politicians sending young people, who are basically their audience, off to fight in these wars,' he says. 'So much of what happens in heavy metal happens in this bubble. When, all of a sudden, there's a sound within this bubble it could seem like the entire heavy metal world is full of this Zionist, pro-Netanyahu warmongering, which is definitely not true. What I think it is is a cauldron of extremely passionate people,' Christe adds. 'Heavy metal crosses class lines, it crosses racial lines and ethnic lines — but it amplifies things. So the heavy metal factor is like a tripling of whatever existed: that goes with the fashion, that goes with the relationships, it goes with the music but it also goes with the politics.' Draiman is unusual in the music industry for his outspoken support of Israel before and during the current war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas attacks of October 7 2023. He was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Chicago as a child. Growing up, he sang traditional Jewish songs during religious festivals, which 'led to choir and cantorial training', and when he was in his early teens, Draiman was leading the singing at services as well as discovering his love of rock through the likes of the Sex Pistols and The Cure. So devoted was Draiman to his faith that he has said that he was 'about two years away from being ordained as a rabbi' before suffering a 'crisis of conscience'. Instead, after graduating from university he started work as a healthcare administrator, but gave up his six-figure salary to try and make it as a full-time rock star. It was a gamble that his parents thought 'was nuts', but paid off handsomely. To all of you who are surprised by my #Zionism, and continued defense of #Israel and and the Jewish people, allow me to clarify a few things; 1. I'm a Jew. 2. My entire family lives in Israel, and I have had family living there for over a century. #AmYisraelChai — David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇺🇸🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) October 22, 2023 Draiman has repeatedly publicly sparred with Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, who criticised Disturbed for playing a gig in Tel Aviv (at which they played the Israeli national anthem) six years ago. Waters, who caused controversy himself in 2023 when he appeared in Berlin wearing what many said looked like a Nazi-style uniform (though he argued that depicting an 'unhinged fascist demagogue' has always been a key feature of Pink Floyd shows as a challenge to authoritarianism), is a long-time supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which lobbies for the cutting of ties with Israel. 'Regardless of whether it's Israel or anywhere else, boycotting an entire society and an entire people based on the actions of its government is absolutely ridiculous. And it doesn't accomplish anything,' Draiman said of Waters's criticism of his band in 2019. 'The very notion that Waters and the rest of his comrades decide that this is the way to go ahead and foster change is absolute lunacy and idiocy – absolute. It makes no sense whatsoever. It's only based on hatred of a culture and of a people and of a society that have been demonised unjustifiably since the beginning of time. You wanna be able to bring people together? You wanna effect social change on a real level? Bring them together for a concert.' For all the talk about bringing people together, Draiman appeared to have the self-awareness to know that not everybody liked what he was saying; Disturbed's 2022 album was called Divisive. It only reached 13th and 17th in the American and British album charts, respectively. 'I think that we're the kind of band that people either really, really love or really, really hate. There's not a whole lot of in-between, right,' he told Revolver magazine that year. 'I think that anything that's worth feeling passionate about brings extremes of polarity to it. The art that should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed, right? I've definitely figured out how to come to peace with it. I like the fact that people are passionate one way or the other about what we do.' While Morello has not responded to Draiman's recent criticism of him, the members of Kneecap have supported their new champion. 'We don't care what religion anyone is…or if they've one at all. We love all sound c--ts,' they wrote on X on Sunday. 'Smiling and signing bombs to murder kids and other people's families just makes you a straight up c--t. Simple as. Free Palestine.' Inevitably, as has been the case throughout this conflict, Draiman replied in kind later that day. 'That shell was meant for Hamas. You know, the organization who has sworn to murder all Jews, not just Israelis, time and time again, including my family. You shoot at Jews? Expect Jews to shoot back,' he wrote to Kneecap. 'All innocent lives lost in this conflict are due to Hamas using their own people as cannon fodder so that they can gain the sympathy of those who are only too eager to jump on the Jew hating train. If the hostages were released and Hamas surrendered, the bloodshed would end. But neither you, nor Hamas really want that. Because without dead martyred Palestinians to fuel your zeitgeist, both you and them lose power,' Draiman added. 'Enjoy your five minutes gentlemen. It could have been done with your art, but instead you chose to do it with hatred. Bye now.' Draiman may have said goodbye, but that is unlikely to be the last word in this increasingly fraught heavy metal conflict.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Kelly Osbourne's rock 'n' roll romance was 23 years in the making: Mother-of-one first met Slipknot's Sid Wilson when she was 13 and he was 20 - before falling in love decades later
The last ever Black Sabbath show was an emotional event for fans of the Brummie rock band - but for frontman Ozzy Osbourne 's daughter Kelly, emotions ran high for a different reason. Her partner and the father of her son Sid Wilson, 48, a member of the rock band Slipknot, got down on one knee at Villa Par; and popped the question at the end of the gig, leaving Kelly, 40, open mouthed. But their happy ending was decades in the making for the rockstar and the rockstar's daughter, who first met when Kelly was 13 and Sid was 20. The pair crossed paths in the 1990s at Ozzfest, the heavy metal festival created by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, when Slipknot was touring with the event. But, as the mother-of-one has previously revealed, she and Sid 'only ever saw each other as kids' at the time due to the age difference. Speaking on The Osbournes Podcast last year, she said: 'We were just friends, because there was a seven-year age difference and back then, that was a huge, huge gap. I was 13 years old, and he was in his early 20s.' However, sparks began to fly between the pair a decade later when they bumped into each other in LA in 2013. 'It was 2013, maybe a bit before that,' she recalled. 'I ran into Sid when he had his record shop on Melrose and that's when he decided that he liked me. I didn't know this.' She revealed Sid invited her to a Slipknot concert shortly after this meeting, which she attended with no idea that he liked her romantically. However it led to the pair 'talking more and hanging out more'. Kelly continued: 'It wasn't, like, forced. Because we had been friends for so long and known each other for so long, there was a sense of comfortability that I've never had with anyone else.' The pair confirmed their relationship in early 2022, after knowing each other for more than two decades. 'After 23 years of friendship, I can't believe where we've ended up!' Kelly gushed on social media at the time. Just months later, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Their son, Sidney, arrived in November 2022, making Ozzy a grandfather for the fifth time. The couple began dating in 2022 and welcomed their son Sidney in November 2023. Kelly went on to reveal she also hopes the couple will be able to expand their family in the future, she told Us Weekly: 'I definitely want more babies!' The couple are currently trying to map out their future plans and are trying to decide whether to move back to Kelly's native UK after her parents Ozzy and Sharon recently returned after many years spent living in the US. 'We're going to get a bigger house; we're just trying to figure out where. Do we want to be close to the studio? Or do we want to go back to England?' Kelly said. 'My son is going to go to school in England. The school system is a bit different in the U.K., and I like the idea of uniforms. I like the idea of no guns [in] schools.' After struggling with addiction in the past, Kelly credits her son, Sidney with 'saving her.' She also admitted that her life completely 'changed' since having her son, saying she didn't know 'how powerful the feeling of love was going to be.' Kelly has always been very protective over her son and she was left fuming after her mother Sharon shared her newborn son's secret name on talk show. The couple are currently trying to map out their future plans and are trying to decide whether to move back to Kelly's native UK after her parents Ozzy and Sharon recently returned after many years spent living in the US Sharon not only confirmed her daughter had given birth, but also revealed the name of her newborn grandson to the world. In response, Kelly posted a furious Instagram story in which she said: 'I am not ready to share him with the world. It is no one's place but mine to share any information about my baby.' She had not officially confirmed Sidney's arrival herself when Sharon made the big reveal about her new grandson's during an appearance on Talk TV. The X Factor judge confessed that Kelly and Sid had decided on the name Sidney for their little boy. Co-host JJ Anisiobi asked Sharon if she helps to look after the newborn, to which Sharon replied: 'Yes'. She gushed: 'They're doing just so great. So great. She won't let a picture go out of him and I'm so proud of her.' Announcing her pregnancy on social media, Kelly wrote: 'I know that I have been very quiet these past few months so I thought I would share with you all as to why. 'I am over the moon to announce that I am going to be a Mumma. To say that I am happy does not quite cut it. I am ecstatic!' The reality star revealed the news with two images on her Instagram page showing her relaxing poolside while looking at her sonogram pictures. And now Kelly will not only be a 'mumma', but a rock and roll wife, after Sid popped the question in front of her family and friends at Ozzy's final gig with Black Sabbath last weekend. In the clip of the proposal, Kelly's mother Sharon appeared to have guessed what was about to happen as she shouted at the crowded room: 'You've got to be quiet!' Sid was then seen standing in front of Ozzy and Sharon, preparing to get down on one knee before his future father-in-law cheekily interrupted: 'F**k off you're not marrying my daughter are you?' Sid laughed as he continued: 'Kelly you know I love you more than anything. 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?' A delighted Ozzy asked Sid for a look at the ring as Sharon applauded, before Kelly jumped into her new fiancé's arms. Kelly's celeb pals rushed to congratulate the star, with Rylan commenting on her Instagram post: 'OMG KEL!!! Congraaatttsssss.' Jonathan Cheban added: 'AMAZING. LOVE YOU MOCHIE!!! Congrats!!!!' Hours earlier, Kelly had shared a gushing post reflecting on her 'magical' evening at Ozzy's final show. Posting a gallery of snaps from the evening, she penned the caption: 'To say that yesterday was magic was an understatement! 'I can't even write this without tears streaming down my face! Thank you to everyone who came to support my dad. 'Thank you to the fans who without we are nothing! My dad got his moment in the sun! He was able to say thank you and goodbye in the most beautiful way!' Speaking in October Kelly said that Sid 'really wants to get married,' but that is wasn't important to her. Although she isn't keen on getting married, Kelly confirmed last year that she would exchange vows with Sid because it's important to him. 'I found my guy. We don't need the certificate. But I know Sid really wants to get married, so we will get married. It's not as important to me,' she told Us Weekly. 'I've worn so many beautiful dresses and had so many moments that have been just about me, so that whole idea of a big day isn't as important to me ... 'Never in a million f****** years did I think I'd end up with a rock star partner, but I did.' And there is an adorable special meaning behind Kelly's eye-popping diamond engagement ring. The MailOnline exclusively revealed how the Slipknot musician turned to luxury jeweller Mouawad to help him create the custom sparkler which also paid tribute to his partner's late friend Joan Rivers. In a clip from Sid's first meeting with Mouawad boss Pascal Mouawad, he explained that he wanted the bauble to nod to a nickname both he and the comedian, who died in 2014 aged 81, had for Kelly, 40. He said: 'So I have a nickname for Kelly, and it's "Honeybee" and coincidentally a friend of hers, Joan Rivers used to call her this'. 'It was a nickname [Joan] had for her. I didn't know this, it's like an amazing coincidence, it's like whoa, like meant to be'. He explained how Kelly, who co-hosted E! Fashion Police with the late Joan, had landed the moniker due to her always 'buzzing around' and 'spreading good energy' so wanted the ring to be inspired by bees and pollen. Drawing from this affectionate nickname, the ring's design features a unique beehive inspired structure, seamlessly marrying sentiment with elegance. The result is a dazzling 18K yellow gold ring adorned with both white and yellow diamonds, as well as citrine accents. If that wasn't enough the centre piece is a stunning 2.5 carat round brilliant-cut diamond, symbolising the enduring and multifaceted nature of love. Later in the clip Sid was left stunned when he saw the ring for the first time and his idea come to life. 'It's like blinding! it sparklers!' he exclaimed, 'She's just going to love it, it's beautiful' before choking back tears as he described the gorgeous ring as 'more than perfect'. Following Joan's death Kelly got a bumble bee tattoo in tribute to her late pal and the nickname she had given her. Taking to Instagram she wrote 'In honor of you @joanrivers..."If you looked at aerodynamics, at science, the bumble bee should not be able to fly. Physically, it was just not anatomically equipped to soar. 'Yet it did, defying gravity, defying logic. The bee was a creature that defied and beat the odds, a miracle." Thank you for being my Miracle @joanrivers.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Kelly Osbourne says Ozzy and Sharon's 'suicide pact' was just a publicity ploy as she denies her dad is on death's door
has denied reports her rocker dad is dying as she revealed the truth of the 'suicide pact' her parents claimed to have made. The alleged agreement to end their lives was merely 'bulls**t' her mom Sharon made up to 'get attention one time.' And Kelly insisted the rumors about Ozzy Osbourne 's imminent demise are completely wide of the mark, despite his medical woes: 'My dad's not dying. Stop!' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO The TV personality, 40 - who became engaged to partner Sid Wilson this month - jumped to her Instagram stories on Friday to address the speculation. In 2023 on The Osbournes podcast, Sharon stated that euthanasia was 'still a plan' for both herself and the Crazy Train singer and questioned, 'Do you think that we're gonna suffer?' The topic had been brought up separate times in the past, with Ozzy saying in 2014 that physician-assisted suicide would be an option if they had any 'life-threatening condition.' However in a new clip, Kelly said: 'I don't know what side of the bed I woke up on today, but I woke up on a f***ing I'm gonna f*** you up and fight you day. 'Stop making articles or posts about how you think my parents are having a suicide pact. 'That was bulls*** my mom said to get attention one time. And my dad's not dying. Stop!' In a separate reel, Kelly also brought up a viral AI video of her father saying that he is 'dying.' 'So, there's this video going around on social media and it's supposed to be of my dad and it's AI,' the mother of one said. 'And 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."' Kelly paused and then added: 'What the f*** is wrong with you people? Why would you spend your time making a video like this? He's not dying!' She continued: 'Yes, he has Parkinson's. And yes his mobility is completely different that it used to be but he's not f***ing dying. What is wrong with you?' Kelly additionally included a screenshot to give an example of comments filtering on social media platforms such as: 'Tell us Ozzy is going to be dying soon without telling us he's going to be dying soon.' Earlier this month in Birmingham, England, Ozzy took to the stage for his final live show - amid his battle with Parkinson's after being initially diagnosed with the disease in 2003. A few years earlier on The Osbournes podcast, the topic of a 'suicide pact' that both he and Sharon made was brought up by their son Jack. Speculation: Kelly included a screenshot of comments filtering on social media platforms When he asked if euthanasia was 'still a plan' for them both, his mom replied with, 'Do you think that we're gonna suffer?' Jack then said, 'Aren't we already all suffering?' and Sharon continued to offer her view on the matter. 'Yes, we all are, but I don't want it to actually hurt, as well. Mental suffering is enough pain without physical. So if you've got mental and physical, see ya.' Kelly - who also appeared on the podcast episode at the time - asked her mom: 'But what if you could survive?' The British-born star answered: 'Yeah, what if you survived and you can't wipe your own a**, you're pissing everywhere, s****ing, can't eat.' The topic was also previously brought up when Sharon interviewed with The Mirror in 2007 when she released her own autobiography titled Survivor: My Story - The Next Chapter. 'Ozzy and I have absolutely come to the same decision,' she told the British newspaper. 'We believe 100 per cent in euthanasia so have drawn up plans to go to the assisted suicide flat in Switzerland if we ever have an illness that affects our brains. 'If Ozzy or I ever got Alzheimer's, that's it - we'd be off.'
