Ozzy Osbourne, iconic rock legend and frontman of Black Sabbath, has passed away this morning on 7/22 at the age of 76, his family announced. This comes weeks after he held his last concert with Black Sabbath amidst a series of health complications.
RIP to a great legend. Despite the sad moment, I think it was great for him that he was able to give a final performance the best way he could and witness his daughter getting engaged after the show (I guess Sid Wilson or the family knew it was coming), so he enjoyed his last days.
What a loss, not just for the metal community but for popular music history in general. R.I.P. Prince of Darkness.
I had a weird irrational feeling when he was performing onstage for the last time after all those health issues that this would be the one, and then the end isn’t too far ahead… Nevertheless, it’s amazing he managed to sing those couple of songs live for the fans and still do them justice to the extent of his abilities.
Back when I was a wee teenage metalhead, one of my first CD-R mixes definitely had Black Sabbath’s Paranoid (the song) on it, and I distinctly remember burning another CD with just the whole “Master of Reality” album and trying to recreate the cover font with a sharpie on the front insert. One of my early CD purchases was his Ozzmosis album. Also fun times watching The Osbournes on MTV and grooving to the Ozzy music videos whenever they came on, especially “Gets Me Through” and “Dreamer”.
Time for a reunion in the void with Randy Rhoads finally.