Ozzy died.

[lowdown]

He did come out with some classic lines...

 

Ozzy, "We started off as a Rock band messing with drugs, but we ended up as a drug band messing with rock".

 

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

I'm so glad I went to the expense and effort of watching the live stream of the Back to the Beginning show. I'd really be kicking myself now if I hadn't. 

 

Although Ozzy looked frail on the night he's always had a frailty about him. It's kind of weird because throughout his whole career I've almost always expected him to drop dead at any second given his excessive lifestyle, yet when it finally happened it came as a total shock after seeing him performing only a couple of weeks ago. 

 

R.I.P Ozzy. A true musical legend. 

[dave_bass5]

3 hours ago, SH73 said:

Only noticed when scrolled through a Facebook page, a giveaway picture. R.I.P

 

The best singer BS ever had, sitting next to Ozzy.....

[BassFace1991]

2 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

The best singer BS ever had, sitting next to Ozzy.....

I don't think Ozzy and Dio were particularly friends either.

[xgsjx]

Great musician, singer & frontman. 
But a total bellend of a person who supported apartheid.

[Supernaut]

What can I say? Shocked but knew the end was near. An absolute legend and that term is indeed necessary for Ozzy. Playing Sabbath LOUD today. RIP. 

[Stub Mandrel]

 

[Misdee]

For me the standout Ozzy performance is War Pigs on the Paranoid album. I can still remember the first time I ever heard that song on my record player when I was ten years old. My nephew bought that album on vinyl recently and he's thirteen. That's a time gap of going on for fifty years and he's into Sabbath just like I was.

 

Black Sabbath are still the best to ever do that style of music. No one can get near them, even after all that time. Ozzy might (quite understandably) have been a bit shaky at the final gig but the rest of them were still a formidable unit. As far as I'm concerned they are one of Britain's greatest ever exports and something to be proud of.

Edited Wednesday at 16:56 by Misdee

[Stub Mandrel]

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

 

A riff that's heavy by any standards, plus an even heavier riff, all combined with delicate acoustic guitar. And it all fits together as a coherent whole, creating a musical vision of heaven and hell that's arguably the heaviest song ever recorded.

 

Others have tuned lower, played slower or used more distortion but never achieved the sheer force when that song hits.

 

That ability to cast light as well as shade is what sets Sabbath apart from their imitators.

[bnt]

Moby, of all people, has some nice words:

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

[EssexBuccaneer]

Man. Where do I start?

 

I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Ozzy or sabbath. My gateway to metal ran through Guns n roses, Bon Jovi - hard rock acts. From there I fell into Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. I was aware of Sabbath and Ozzy of course but I wasn’t a particularly huge fan. I respected them for what they created, but there were louder, faster, darker acts out there by the time I was discovering metal in the early 90’s. 
 

However the shadow of Sabbath and Ozzy loomed over everything. Pantera did sabbath covers. Anyone who was anyone in metal attributed their passion to the Birmingham quartet and their lunatic frontman. Still not a ‘fan’, they were impossible to avoid, from compilation CD’s, to articles in Metal Hammer. You learned by Ozmosis (sorry!). 
 

War Pigs, paranoid, the Wizard. Crazy Train, Mr Crowley. All became ingrained in my psyche, and I still wasn’t a fan. I told people ‘oh yeah they’re vital, but I don’t really like them that much’

 

i got older, I got wiser. I paid more attention. Iommi, Butler and Ward were the engine of sabbath, they made it work. But Ozzy was the paint job that screamed ‘look at me!’. He was the heart and soul of Sabbath. They were a good band without him - Dio’s sabbath were incredible, except they weren’t Sabbath. Ozzy made them iconic. He made them ‘them’.

 

i realised that I’d been lying for years. Telling people I wasn’t a fan. Telling people I respected their influence, but never loved their music. 
 

I realised too late that I was always a fan. Probably since I first heard them on one of those compilation CD’s.

 

Since Tuesday night all I’ve done is blast Sabbath and Ozzy. We’re gonna put paranoid in our set next week and close the show with it. Our little tribute to the Prince of darkness. 
 

I hope he’s looking down right now, shaking his head and wondering what all the fuss is about. Probably shouting for ‘SHARRROOON’ to explain why gen-x is being so quiet right now. 

Edited yesterday at 19:04 by EssexBuccaneer

[TheGreek]

[Misdee]

41 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Rick Parfitt is looking a bit peaky at the back there.

 

Who the chap throwing up the devils horns is I have no idea, but he looks more like our old milkman Dave than he does Ronnie Dio, that's for sure

 

Can't see Ozzy being that enthusiastic about an embrace with Freddie Mercury either, but that's another story ...

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I think it’s true that nobody bettered sabbath . Skipping school and going through my siblings record collection , I first stumbled upon Vol4 , then master of reality . Then the 1st album. 
I ended up buying all ozzy era sabbath asap back in the day . I’d say the first side of sabotage is the last great thing they did ..with ozzy! 
 

As for Dio fantastic voice , but I couldn’t gel with that era . 
I was at the heaven and hell gig at hammy o , and myself and friend were bored out of our skulls . Dio solo was much better . Ozzy solo , I got bored around the ultimate sun era. I’m convinced he wore wig on that tour, as he apparently shaved his head around that time . He looked very much like Sharon in east Enders at the time .   
I liked no more tears , and I think Perry mason is the best song he did for years .  It’s a shame that  he did the mtv series , as it made him a laughing stock imho. 
 

I went to The Hyde park gig 10 years ago, and I thought that would be a fitting way to bow out . I had to eat my words , when I saw the villa park gig on you tube ( most of it anyway ) . He was struggling with not being able to stand up , but sabbath played well. 
The bands that turned up made the day also . 
Ozzy ..and sabbath true legends .

 

One other thing ; although I was lucky to be front row on blizzard of ozz tour at hammy o , I was puzzzled to receive a letter from hammy o regarding the diary of a madman tour at the time . He was due to return for uk tour , and was offered a refund which I took. I cannot remember if it was because of the bat , or Randy Rhodes .

 

[Misdee]

 In terms of the music, my favourite Sabbath was definitely the Dio era too, saw them live ect, but Ozzy was a  personality cult all of his own, even back then. I agree that if Sabbath had changed their name at that point then maybe people would have more readily acknowledged what great music they were turning out in their own right.

 

I saw Ozzy with Randy Rhodes on the first Blizzard Of Oz tour in 1980. It was pretty good but not great, just another routine gig on a Monday night in the provinces for Ozzy. I waited at the stage door afterwards to get my programme signed but Ozzy looking a bit dazed and glazed-over, wasn't very approachable. Sharon accompanied him straight across the car park to the hotel next door. A few minutes later you could see him through the window having a drink in the bar with Budgie, the support band. Probably just a quick nightcap and then straight to bed.

Edited yesterday at 21:22 by Misdee

[Misdee]

23 hours ago, bnt said:

Moby, of all people, has some nice words:

 

 

Back in his heyday Ozzy would have got up to some kind of  dubious shenanigans with those chimpanzees. It would have been too good and opportunity to miss.They should count themselves very lucky.

Edited yesterday at 21:28 by Misdee

[peteb]

On 23/07/2025 at 00:36, Russ said:

Basically, he won at life and completed the game - the gig the other week was the big boss fight and he won. I'm noting that there's no mention anywhere of his cause of death - would be entirely unsurprised to find out he went to Dignitas or something. He did everything he wanted to do and went out with a blast. 

 

I must admit, I did wonder about that. However, Jake E Lee put up a screen shot of a text he received from Ozzy a couple of days before he died, thanking him for doing the Back to the Beginning gig and suggesting that they meet up in a few weeks time when he went back to LA. So, perhaps it was more unexpected than you might think. 

 

[peteb]

Great story from Nick Beggs (in the latest edition of Popbitch): 

"I was performing at a rock/pop festival in Europe in the 80s and staying at a hotel with all the other luminaries of the day. I recall seeing Ozzy Osbourne and Bruce Dickinson talking in the hotel bar that evening. Becoming overwhelmed by my fan-like mentality I helplessly ran up to Ozzy and spouted, "Oh my God! Ozzy Osbourne! I can't believe it, you were my biggest influence!"

"To which he replied. 'F*** off! I'm not taking the blame for that crap." 

 

There's another great story going about featuring Ozzy, Slash, Cliff Richard and the late Queen of England (that I won't repeat here) 🙂 

 

Edited yesterday at 22:57 by peteb

[Stub Mandrel]

The story is now going round that  Thames Valley Air Ambulance battled to save him.

[Stub Mandrel]

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/air-ambulance-ozzy-osbourne-dead-last-moments-b1239711.html

 

[lowdown]

Ozzy and Rick Wakeman were good buddies: