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New York Post
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Metal never would have existed without Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne
Heavy metal is the musical genre most prone to hyperbole — 'This one goes to 11,' as Spinal Tap said — but it's no exaggeration to say metal would never have existed without Black Sabbath, and rock in general would have had much less roll without its singer, co-founder and indelible character Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy died on Tuesday at age 76, a little more than two weeks after he joined the other three original members of Sabbath onstage in their native Birmingham for a farewell concert to benefit local children's charities and Cure Parkinson's, a disease he was diagnosed with in 2019. Dressed as usual from head to toe in black, wild eyes shrouded with heavy liner, the self-proclaimed 'Prince of Darkness' sang four of the band's iconic songs while sitting on a throne, unable to prowl the stage as he did for decades. And afterward, his mates presented him with a cake. Advertisement 5 Ozzy Osbourne performs with Black Sabbath at the Ozzfest concert in East Rutherford, N.J., on June 15, 1997. AP As fans overwhelmed Ozzy with waves of gratitude for more than half a century of sturm und drang, the incongruous but touching Hallmark moment contrasted with a band that eschewed sentiment in its music and lyrics, preferring to mine more sinister and ominous turf. When Sabbath formed in 1968, the group took its name from a Boris Karloff horror movie. The members looked like Everymen who would have been bricklayers if they hadn't stumbled on a unique formula that brought them stardom. And crazy/goofy Ozzy was far from the superstar front-man mold of a Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey. Sabbath's sound and aesthetic provided a stark contrast to the still-prevailing peace-and-love vibe, and every heavy band since that's worn black and avoided love songs like the plague owes the group and Ozzy a debt. Advertisement 5 Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne. WireImage Though vilified by censorious types who portrayed him as the devil incarnate, Ozzy's was always a brand of what writer Nick Tosches called 'bubblegum Satanism.' To be sure, the music was undeniably heavy and cheerless, and the singer's high-pitched yelp of a voice seemed to come from someone badly in need of an exorcism. And, yeah, Ozzy did bite the head off a bat when he split from Sabbath and went solo, influencing a whole new generation of fans. But as evidenced by his third career as a reality TV star on 'The Osbournes,' Ozzy always gave us a wink so we'd know he was never taking the comic-book horror or himself too seriously. As for the bat, well, the excesses were something he admitted. Advertisement 5 Ozzy Osbourne's final show with Black Sabbath in Birmingham, England on July 5, 2025. Ozzy Osbourne/Instagram 5 Ozzy Osbourne's final Instagram post on July 21, 2025, one day before his death. Ozzy Osbourne/Instagram 'People say to me, if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now, would you change anything?,' he wrote in 'Last Rites,' his second memoir, due for publication in October. 'I'm like, f–k no. If I'd been clean and sober, I wouldn't be Ozzy. If I'd done normal, sensible things, I wouldn't be Ozzy.' Advertisement In the end, as with every singular talent, it's not the antics we should remember and celebrate, but the work. In particular, the first five Sabbath albums and Ozzy's first two solo efforts are masterpieces as timeless and essential as any in rock history. 5 Ozzy Osbourne performs with Black Sabbath at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J., on August 4, 2013. Chad Rachman/New York Post The music is also a hell of a lot of fun. That may not be a word you associate with Ozzy, but if you doubt it, try to listen to 'Sweet Leaf,' 'Fairies Wear Boots,' or 'Crazy Train' without smiling, Turn 'em up loud, and if you indulge, lift a pint to rock's first and forever Dark Prince. Long may he yelp at us from the great beyond. Jim DeRogatis spent 15 years as music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and is author of 'Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly.'
New York Times
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Hollywood Luminaries Mourn the Actor Gene Hackman
Tributes for the actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead on Wednesday at the age of 95 at his home in Santa Fe, N.M., with his wife and one of their dogs, streamed in from collaborators and co-stars as the news spread. Hackman, who played flawed Everymen, inflexible patriarchs and inspirational mentors, had decades of notable roles, prompting generations of mourners to remember their time working with the actor. Francis Ford Coppola Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 neo-noir 'The Conversation,' in which the actor played a wiretapping expert enmeshed in paranoia, posted a photo of them on the set together. 'The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,' Coppola wrote in the caption. 'I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.' Morgan Freeman Freeman, who co-starred with Hackman in the 1992 neo-western 'Unforgiven,' which won best picture and best supporting actor for Hackman at the Academy Awards, posted a picture of them from a later collaboration with Monica Bellucci. In the caption, he said working with Hackman on that movie, 'Under Suspicion,' from 2000, was 'one of the personal highlights of my career.' Gwyneth Paltrow Paltrow, who played the daughter to Hackman's eccentric patriarch in Wes Anderson's 2001 dramedy 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' posted a cropped image of that movie's cast that centered her, Luke Wilson and Hackman. She captioned it only with an emoji of a broken heart. Barry Sonnenfeld Sonnenfeld posted a still from 'Get Shorty,' the 1995 gangster comedy he directed in which Hackman played a B-movie director with a large gambling debt who was chased down by a mobbed-up loan shark played by John Travolta. 'He was brilliant, hilarious and always real,' Sonnenfeld wrote in the caption. 'And always knew his lines. Couldn't ask for more from an actor.' Nathan Lane Lane, one of Hackman's co-stars in the 1996 queer farce comedy 'The Birdcage,' said in a statement that he thought he told Hackman he was his favorite actor every day during filming. He also praised Hackman's range in both comedy and drama, saying it was a privilege to share the screen with him. 'Getting to watch him up close, it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest,' Lane said in the statement, reported by Variety and People magazine. 'You could never catch him acting. Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger.' Hank Azaria Azaria, who played the Guatemalan housekeeper and aspiring drag queen Agador Spartacus in 'The Birdcage,' posted stills from that movie with him and Hackman, who played an ultraconservative Republican senator meeting the gay parents of his future son-in-law. 'It was an honor and an education working with Gene Hackman,' Azaria wrote. 'Mike Nichols said of his genius character acting: 'He always brought just enough of a different part of the real gene to each role he played.''
