22 July 2025 was the saddest day for metal and rock fans all around the world. Hell, you don’t even need to be a metal fan to know who Ozzy Osbourne was. Truly a freak of nature and a gifted rock star, he will always be remembered for the amalgamation of sheer insanity and musical prowess he brought to the table. But how much do you actually know about him? Apart from his platinum records and dark eyeliners? Let’s get a glimpse into the life of our “Prince of Darkness”.
Early Life of Ozzy Osbourne
1948, Birmingham. A toolmaker father and a catholic mother brought into this world John Michael Osbourne. “You would either do something really great or end up in jail”, were the remarks his father made when he observed his indiscretions. Our beloved Ozz managed to do both. With three older sisters and two younger brothers, he lived his early days in a humble two-bedroom abode.
Ozzy had learning difficulties since childhood. His dyslexia made it harder for him to keep up with other children in studies. And paired with his Brummie accent, it made him a target for relentless bullying from peers. At the age of 11, he faced an event of sexual abuse at the hands of his classmates and consequently attempted suicide multiple times in his adolescence.
Music Saved Ozzy Osbourne
And that’s when the first instance of music saving his life came into being, when at the age of 14, he heard a Beatles song, which inspired him to be a musician. He worked as a labourer and construction site worker, and eventually at a slaughterhouse; he ultimately walked out of the job because of constant fights with co-workers.
He later remarked that working at the slaughterhouse was one of the vilest experiences of his early life. He vomited on the first day at the job. Who would’ve thought?
The culmination of Talents to form Black Sabbath
One fateful day, somewhere in the 1960s, Ozzy posted a flyer in a record store to get into a band. A highly frugal flyer with the words “Ozzy Zig Needs Gig” written over it. And then, Tony Iommi, the guitarist we all know and love today, picked it up. The rest was history. This was the conception of Black Sabbath. And then, the records came rolling in.
Their self-titled EP, Black Sabbath and “Paranoid” became the topics of heated contention. While some people enjoyed them, others remarked on them as Satanic, obnoxious and loud. But this notoriety only gave the band a further push.
The Success of Ozzy Osbourne
With the newfound success came pressure and drinking problems. Osbourne consumed gargantuan amounts of alcohol. A sum substantial enough to scare off your average divorced dad. Tony Iommi called him “a pest”. During touring, Ozzy would frequently show up drunk on stage and sometimes wouldn’t even be found on the stage, only to be discovered lying unconscious later somewhere.
Iommi recalls an incident in the early 1970s in which Osbourne and Geezer Butler fought in a hotel room. Iommi pulled Osbourne off Butler in an attempt to break up the drunken fight, and the vocalist proceeded to turn around and take a wild swing at him.
Iommi responded by knocking Osbourne unconscious with one punch to the jaw. These problems led to Black Sabbath eventually kicking him out of the band. He obviously didn’t handle that very well and went on to drink some more.
His body has been a source of wonder even after all these years. How did he handle that much alcohol? In 2010, a group of scientists conducted a study of his genome and found a mutation in the ADH4 gene, which is responsible for metabolising alcohol. Truly a freak of nature.
Growing the Team
A year or so later, he found a diamond in the rough, Randy Rhoades, as his guitarist and started his own band named after himself. The band took off with the release of several hit albums.
But one day, he, his driver and Randy were in his van. The driver was drunk out of his mind. Ozz was sleeping while the driver stepped out of the truck and saw a small aeroplane parked in Ozzy’s yard, and thought, “This would be fun”. So he, along with Randy, sat on the plane and flew it, eventually clipping off one of their wings by hitting Ozzy’s van and then crashing.
Encounters With Death
Everyone died except, obviously, Oz. Apart from these scuffles, he is also famous for his stage antics. During one of Oz’s concerts, someone from the audience threw a bat at him. He picked it up, thinking it was a toy, so he bit its neck off, only to find very real blood trickling out of it. He got rabies shots immediately after the concert.
A few years later, at some charity event, he did this again. This time, he was expected to give a speech and then release a dove into the wind as a gesture of peace.
But our beloved rock star held the dove, bit its head off and spat it at the organiser.
Difficult Relationships
Our legend hasn’t been good with relationships either. With 3 failed marriages under his belt, he has spent most of his life fighting or scaring people. The first one, he botched due, you guessed it, alcohol. He allegedly killed all of the pet cats her wife had in a drunken rage. And later on in his life, he tried to murder Sharon. That too was due to drugs and alcohol. He went to rehab, and she gave him a second chance after that. So they had 3 kids and they lived happily. He has been in and out of prison quite frequently.
Giving Ozzy Osbourne His Flowers!
After his rock career, a show called “The Osbournes” was created, offering a glimpse into the family’s everyday life. And one more accident happened during that time. He was riding a quad bike and ended up with multiple rib fractures and a vertebral fracture in his neck (At the age of 55).
Despite all that, he still made it to 76. Along with his own music, he left us with the work of legendary guitarists like Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde. There will never be another frontman like him again!