Ozzy Osbourne dies weeks after farewell show
'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,' his family said in a statement posted to social media and shared with various outlets.
'He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,' the statement continued. Osbourne's wife of more than 40 years, Sharon, signed the statement, as did his children, Aimee, Kelly, Jack, and Louis.
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No cause of death was provided, and no additional information was released.
Osbourne announced in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. A year prior, he canceled tour dates due to health problems, including a 'bad fall' in which he said he injured vertebrae in his neck. Then, in 2023, Osbourne said his touring days had 'ended' due to spine damage he had suffered during an accident in 2019.
Sharon Osbourne confirmed in 2022 that her husband had undergone a 'major operation.' While she didn't divulge details at the time, Ozzy had earlier told Classic Rock magazine that he was 'waiting on some more surgery on my neck.'
Earlier this month, however, Osbourne joined the original members of the Black Sabbath — Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — for one final show in Birmingham, England.
'It's my time to go Back to the Beginning….time for me to give back to the place where I was born,' Osbourne said in a social media post in February. 'How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.'
That same night, Osbourne's daughter, Kelly, was proposed to by her DJ boyfriend, Sid Wilson.
Osbourne formed Black Sabbath in 1968 in his hometown of Birmingham (it's there that kids in school nicknamed him Ozz), a city then known for its heavy industry that became the crucible of the British metal scene. Black Sabbath's devil imagery and thunderous sound made them one of the era's most influential — and parent-scaring — metal acts.
In the late 1960s, Osbourne had teamed up with Butler, guitarist Iommi and drummer Ward as the Polka Tulk Blues Band. They decided to rename the band Earth, but found to their dismay there was another band with that name. So they changed the name to the American title of the classic Italian horror movie 'I Tre Volti Della Paura,' starring Boris Karloff: Black Sabbath.
Both the band and Osbourne as a solo artist have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Osbourne's fame expanded into the mainstream in the early 2000s, when he joined his wife Sharon Osbourne, and two of their children in the MTV reality TV show 'The Osbournes.'
Osbourne embodied the excesses of metal. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably, biting the head off a live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert. (He said he thought it was rubber.)
Osbourne was sued in 1987 by parents of a 19-year-old teen who died by suicide while listening to his song 'Suicide Solution.' The lawsuit was dismissed. Osbourne said the song was really about the dangers of alcohol, which caused the death of his friend Bon Scott, lead singer of AC/DC.
Audiences at Osbourne shows could be mooned or spit on by the singer. They would often be hectored to scream along with the song, but the Satan-invoking Osbourne would usually send the crowds home with their ears ringing and a hearty 'God bless!'
He started an annual tour — Ozzfest — in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what was then the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza.
Osbourne's look changed little over his life. He wore his long hair flat, heavy black eye makeup and round glasses, often wearing a cross around his neck. In 2013, he reunited with Black Sabbath for the dour, raw '13,' which reached No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and peaked at No. 86 on the U.S. Billboard 200. In 2019, he had a Top 10 hit when featured on Post Malone's 'Take What You Want,' Osbourne's first song in the Top 10 since 1989.
In 2020, he released the album 'Ordinary Man,' which had as its title song a duet with Elton John. 'I've been a bad guy, been higher than the blue sky/And the truth is I don't wanna die an ordinary man,' he sang. In 2022, he landed his first career back-to-back No. 1 rock radio singles from his album 'Patient Number 9,' which featured collaborations with Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike McCready, Chad Smith, Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan. It earned four Grammy nominations.
He is survived by Sharon, and their three children — Kelly, Aimee and Jack — as well as his eldest son, Louis, from a previous marriage.
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