Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most iconic and enduring figures in heavy metal history. As the original vocalist of Black Sabbath, Ozzy helped create heavy metal itself — the band's dark, blues-infused sound on albums like Paranoid and Master of Reality laid the foundation for an entire genre. After being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979 due to substance abuse issues, Ozzy launched a hugely successful solo career with the help of legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads. His debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and its follow-up Diary of a Madman (1981) combined classical guitar virtuosity with heavy metal power, creating a template that countless bands would follow.
Rhoads' tragic death in a 1982 plane crash was a profound loss, but Ozzy continued to release successful albums and became known as much for his outrageous personality and wild antics as for his music. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he delivered a steady stream of hard-hitting records including Bark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin, and No More Tears, each showcasing his ability to collaborate with world-class guitarists and reinvent his sound for new audiences. His Ozzfest touring festival, launched in 1996, became one of the premier events in heavy music and helped launch the careers of numerous bands.
In the 2000s, The Osbournes reality TV show introduced him to a whole new generation of fans, revealing the man behind the myth as a surprisingly endearing family figure. Despite serious health challenges in recent years, Ozzy's influence on heavy metal and rock culture remains immeasurable. His late-career albums Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9 proved he still had creative fire to burn. Vintage Ozzy tour tees from the 1980s and 1990s are prized collector's items, capturing the wild energy of an artist who truly earned the title "The Prince of Darkness."
A fan threw what Ozzy assumed was a rubber toy bat onto the stage. Without thinking, he bit its head off. It was real. He had to receive a series of rabies shots afterward. He has said he didn't realize until he felt it bite back.
In 1982, drunk and wearing his wife Sharon's dress, Ozzy urinated on a wall at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. He was arrested on the spot and banned from performing in the city for a decade. Sharon later paid a $10,000 donation to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Rhoads was Ozzy's first solo guitarist, recruited at just 21 years old. He fused classical guitar technique with heavy metal in a way no one had done before. He died in a plane crash in 1982 at age 25. Despite his brief career, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.
Black Sabbath — the legendary heavy metal band from Birmingham, England. Formed in 1968, Sabbath are widely credited with inventing heavy metal. Ozzy was fired in 1979 due to substance abuse, which ultimately launched his hugely successful solo career.