The Prince of Darkness has passed.
Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary lead singer of Black Sabbath, the band that most “metal-heads” consider the pioneers of all modern heavy metal, died Tuesday, July 22, while surrounded by his family. He was 76 years old.
Osbourne’s death comes just 17 days after his performance with Black Sabbath on July 5. The event, promoted as the last performance of Black Sabbath, attracted around 40,000 in-person attendees and 5.8 million online viewers. The event raised over $190 million for charity, becoming the highest-grossing charity concert ever.
Black Sabbath, which formed in 1968, sold over 70 million records worldwide. Osbourne sold over 30 million during his solo career.
In 2020, he made his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease public after sustaining injuries in a fall. During the Black Sabbath performance on July 5, Osbourne displayed a strong singing voice but remained in a throne-like chair throughout the performance.
For many years, Ozzy was the target of parent and Christian groups for his dark imagery and penchant for stunts, like biting the head off a bat during a January 1982 concert in Iowa.
Osbourne found mainstream appeal during four seasons of the reality show “The Osbournes,” which featured the family life of Ozzy, his wife Sharon, and two of their three children. The series achieved the highest ratings in the history of MTV and won the 2002 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program.
Image Credit: Kevin Burkett from Philadelphia, Pa., USA, Ozzy Osbourne-1, CC BY-SA 2.0
