Per a statement from his family, Ozzy Osbourne has passed away. “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.” The Black Sabbath frontman, co-founder, heavy metal originator, and “Prince of Darkness” was 76 years old. A cause of death has not officially been released.
Just weeks ago, on July 5, Osbourne participated in an emotional farewell performance at Villa Park in Birmingham, a show that featured the likes of Metallica, Slayer, and Guns N’ Roses. He performed while sitting on a throne and thanked fans “from the bottom of my heart” for their years of love, support, and listening. In 2019, Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and later revealed that he had emphysema.
Born in Marston Green in December 1948, Osbourne quit school at the age of 15 and worked in construction, plumbing, toolmaking, car-building, and a slaughterhouse before eventually serving time in prison for robbery. After hearing the Beatles’ “She Loves You” for the first time at age 14, he decided to become a musician. Osbourne co-founded Black Sabbath in 1968 with Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward and co-authored songs like “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” “Sweet Leaf,” “Changes,” among countless others. As the lead vocalist, he performed on every album the band released between 1970 and 1978 before rejoining in 1997 and working on their final studio album, 13, in 2013.
Osbourne’s solo career, which began in 1980 with Blizzard of Ozz, led to multi-platinum album sales, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and MTV’s Global Icon Award. He and Black Sabbath were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and then again as a solo artist in 2024.
Many might have first been introduced to Osbourne via his reality television career, in which he and his wife Sharon and two children, Kelly and Jack, starred in The Osbournes on MTV in the early 2000s. He would later appear on-screen with Kelly and Jack again in Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour. He toured regularly this century, both alone and with Black Sabbath.
