The metal world became a little quieter this morning, as we lost the larger-than-life Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy - the madman who gave heavy metal its grit - has left this world, but leaves behind a legacy as wild, defiant, and unforgettable as the man himself.
Black Sabbath
Before Spotify, there was Black Sabbath. And at the forefront of Sabbath was Ozzy - a bloke from Birmingham whose eerie, raw, and unfiltered vocals turned Sabbath’s heavy riffs into something uniquely brilliant.
Together, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward created the blueprint for everything metalheads would hold sacred for decades to come.
In just two years, Sabbath released 'Black Sabbath' (1970), 'Paranoid' (1970), and 'Master of Reality' (1971), wasting no time reshaping rock and metal, with 'Paranoid' widely regarded as one of the greatest metal albums of all time.
When Ozzy was let go from the band in 1979 after frustrations over his alcohol and drug use, it marked the end of an era for Sabbath, but the beginning of a new chapter for Ozzy.
Ozzy’s Solo Career
When Ozzy went solo, he dove headfirst into his reinvention with 'Blizzard of Ozz' (1980), and a year later released Diary of a Madman. These albums proved that Ozzy could not only survive without Black Sabbath but thrive.
Iconic tracks like 'Crazy Train', 'Mr Crowley', 'No More Tears' and 'Bark at the Moon' saw Ozzy redefine heavy metal for a new decade, blending his signature dark theatrics with sharp songwriting and incredible guitar work from Randy Rhoads.
He went on to release a string of successful albums throughout the ‘80s, and continued to release music right up until this year (2025).
Throughout his career, Ozzy released chart-topping albums, made multi-platinum records and won a slew of music awards, including Grammys, MTV awards and many more. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006, and was inducted again for his solo work in 2024.
Let’s take a look at some of Ozzy’s most iconic moments from over the years.
The Bat Bite
This has got to be one of the most iconic things the Prince of Darkness did in his career. At the time, Ozzy had developed a weird but somehow epic ritual where he’d throw raw meat at concertgoers, and they would toss something equally as random back.
On Jan. 20, 1982, at the Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium during his ‘Diary of a Madman tour’, a fan chucked a bat on the stage. Ozzy mistook it for fake, and he bit the head off the fucking thing like a madman.
While the event sent him to the hospital to get a rabies shot in each ear, this cemented his legendary status in the rock world.
The Alamo Incident
In 1982, the same year as the bat-biting, Ozzy was desperate for a piss after having a few beers and urinated on the Alamo, a historical landmark in San Antonio.
He was arrested for the act, bailed out for $40, and then performed to a sold-out crowd.
Following this, he was banned from performing at any Alamo city-owned facilities for ten years. In 1992, he publicly apologised and gifted $10,000 to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
The Alamo has put out a statement following Ozzy’s passing, saying they are “saddened” to hear of his death.
“We acknowledge Ozzy’s journey from regret to reconciliation at the historic site, and we extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fans around the world.”
‘The Osbournes’ Reality Show
‘The Osbournes’ reality show made huge waves, giving a wildly entertaining, BTS look at the chaos of life in the Osbourne household. It truly showcased Ozzy’s larger-than-life personality.
Some of its best moments include Ozzy’s freakout over bubbles, his and Sharon's sex chat making Jack and Kelly uncomfortable, his ongoing struggle with their family dogs, and him getting drunk at his and Sharon’s vow renewal.
Snorting Ants
On his tour with the Motley Crue in the 80s, it’s rumoured that Ozzy spotted a line of ants and, according to Bassist Nikki Sixx, took a straw and hoovered them all up his nose.
The moment was so iconic that it was recreated in Motley Crue’s biopic ‘The Dirt’.
Dove Bite
Bats aren’t the only animal that Ozzy took a chunk out of in his lifetime.
Celebrating his move from Black Sabbath to solo, Ozzy wanted to release doves into the air as a symbolic act to impress his new label, CBS.
Instead, in true Ozzy fashion, he grabbed a dove, bit its head off, and spat it onto the ground. The Prince of Darkness truly lived with no shame.
Dismembered Shark
In a 2011 interview with The New York Post, Tony Iommi spoke about many crazy memories with Black Sabbath and Ozzy, including one of the wildest of all.
Iommi recalled a time when Ozzy, in a state of drugged-up boredom, hauled a shark through a window, dismembered it, and soaked their room in blood.
Iommi gave so little context that this appeared to be a normal act for Ozzy, but it leaves us with so many questions - where the fuck did he get a shark?
Poisoning Bill Ward’s penis
When Black Sabbath were living in a mansion in Bel Air, that place ran on cocaine. So it’s not surprising that in a coke-fuelled prank, while he and Bill were peeing next to each other, Ozzy squirted Bill’s penis with an aerosol can.
Ozzy told Rolling Stone a few years later that he looked “at the can and it says, WARNING: DO NOT SPRAY ON SKIN - HIGHLY TOXIC. I poisoned Bill through his dick!”
In 2010, in his autobiography, he retold the events to say that Tony grabbed a can of spray paint and squirted Bill with it while he pissed over the railing… But do we really believe that?
Dodging a Satanic Curse
In his autobiography ‘I Am Ozzy’, he talked about a time Black Sabbath were invited to perform at Britain’s Druid Mecca, Stonehenge, and says that he was shocked to find the people there “actually practised the occult”.
He said “freaks with white make-up and black robes” would invite Black Sabbath to black masses at the Highgate Cemetery in London.
Ozzy also claimed a group of Satanists genuinely invited them to perform at Stonehenge, and when Ozzy told them to fuck off, they tried to put a curse on the band.
The late Prince of Darkness said they bought an Ouija board to “have a little seance”.
“We scared the shit out of each other.”
Drugging a vicar
It was fully accidental, but that doesn’t stop this from being hilarious in an awful way.
Ozzy told GQ that he had "bought some hash" and made a cake with it, giving his ex-wife strict instructions not to “let anybody eat this fucking cake”.
A few days later, when Ozzy returned, he saw the vicar in his house, cuppa in one hand, and the cake in the other.
Ozzy didn’t have a driver's license at the time, but he had to “drag the vicar out by his hair, push him in the back of his car, drive him to his door, and then walk home”.
Thankfully, Ozzy saw him on Sunday morning, and the oblivious Vicar said to him: “I must have caught such a dreadful flu at yours. I hallucinated for three days and had to miss church.”
Piss ups at the White House
At the peak of ‘The Osbournes’ popularity, the family was invited as guests to The White House Correspondents' Dinner by George W. Bush.
Bush addressed the crowd, welcoming “Washington power brokers, celebrities, Hollywood stars” and last, but not least, “Ozzy Osbourne”.
Ozzy, who had taken advantage of the free booze, stood on the table with a massive smile, blowing kisses and bowing to the president.
Bush, while the crowd was still going crazy, said, “Okay, Ozzy, to try and tame the noise.
He followed this up by: “This might have been a mistake.”
What did he think was gonna happen?
Almost killing Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy recalled in an interview that he had woken up in a single jail cell with human faeces up the walls, and had no recollection of why he was there. He was post-gigantic blackout drunk and very confused.
The police read back to him: "You’re charged with attempting to slay Sharon Osbourne."
Ozzy said he just went “numb”.
Sharon spoke about the incident in the TV documentary ‘The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne’.
“I just knew it was coming. I had no idea who sat across from me on the sofa, but it wasn’t my husband,” she recalled.
He gets this look in his eyes where his shutters are down… he was calm - very, very calm - and he lunged across at me.
Sharon heavily considered a divorce, but explained that while Ozzy was in a treatment facility for six months, she was “lonely” without him, and considered what was best for her and her kids.
She explained that Ozzy had “frightened himself” completely, so the two stayed together and Sharon did not press any charges against her husband.
That time a horse told him to fuck off
Ozzy stopped taking acid sometime in the ‘70s, after an hour-long conversation with a horse. Yep - you read that right.
In an interview with Classic Rock, Ozzy spoke about the making of Black Sabbath’s fourth album Vol. 4, which was recorded in the height of the band’s drug-taking days.
"We lived together in a house in Los Angeles, rehearsed there, did loads of drugs, and made an album, simple. Those were good times,” Ozzy said.
After swallowing 10 tabs of acid, Ozzy went for a walk in a field: “I ended up standing there talking to this horse for about an hour. In the end, the horse turned round and told me to fuck off.
“That was it for me."
We love you, Ozzy, for all that you gave us in your jam-packed lifetime.
Long live the Prince of Darkness.
