23-07-2025
Tributes flow for mighty rocker Ozzy Ozbourne
Sabra Lane: The pioneering heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne died when he was 76. He was the frontman of Black Sabbath, selling more than 100 million records, and he was famous, or perhaps infamous, for his wild antics as a 20th century rocker. Myles Houlbrook-Walk takes a look back on the life of the singer affectionately known as the Prince of Darkness.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: There were few musicians quite like Ozzy Osbourne. He had a distinctive vocal style, some described it as eerie, that catapulted his band Black Sabbath and him to heavy metal international stardom. As the band grew, so did their onstage antics and Osbourne's persona. Murray Engleheart is a music journalist and saw Black Sabbath several times as well as interviewing Osbourne.
Murray Engleheart: An amazing performer, charismatic, energetic, get the worst crowd on the planet on their feet.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Watching them in concert, Murray Ingleheart says there was a striking and unique sound that would go on to influence many musicians.
Murray Engleheart: If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be half the bands on the planet that there are now. They brought a sound that was really, really unique that thousands of bands have picked up on since.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Osbourne lived up to his reputation off stage too, his cocaine and alcohol abuse eventually catching up with him. His wild ways saw him kicked out of Black Sabbath, the band he founded.
Murray Engleheart: Back in the 70s, it was that sort of excess, that was pretty normal. I mean, he did it really well or really badly, whichever way you want to look at it.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Ozzy then forged a solo career, which also produced remarkable success. His manner on stage continued to provide shock and awe. Most notably, a live bat was thrown onto the stage during one of his shows. He proceeded to bite off its head.
Ozzy Osbourne: And somebody threw a bat. Now, to find someone who goes to a concert with a bat in their, a real bat, you always get the joke ones, you know, you get like the rubber ones you buy from the corner joke shop. And I picked it up, I thought, this is gonna be good. Bit into this bat. You bit it? Believe me, if I've ever known it was a real live bat, I would never have picked it up.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Beyond his music, he also forged a career on reality TV alongside wife and manager Sharon Osbourne in the early 2000s. Music critic Bernard Zuel says Ozzy was fearless in allowing his family to become a spectacle.
Bernard Zuel: You are the into some kind of artiness as a film star, or maybe you became one of those showmen who would do television cabaret or something like that. He made the idea of supposed real life, the way to tell your story.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: In his later years, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, losing his mobility. But the Prince of Darkness had one final very public act performing in his hometown of Birmingham earlier this month in front of tens of thousands in a farewell gig. He survived by his wife Sharon, six children and his music.
Sabra Lane: Myles Houlbrook-Walk.
