• Music
  • 22 Jul 25

Ozzy Osbourne dies aged 76

Ozzy Osbourne dies aged 76
Ozzy Osbourne, music video for 'Ordinary Man
The Hot Press Newsdesk
The Hot Press Newsdesk

The death of the rock icon happened just weeks after his final farewell concert in Birmingham

Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76.

The news was announced in a statement from Osbourne's family on Tuesday.

"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning," the statement reads.

"He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time."

Born in 1948 in Birmingham, Osbourne would go on to become one of the most iconic figures in rock history.

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He founded and fronted Black Sabbath in 1968 alongside Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.

Taking their name from an Italian horror film starring Boris Karloff, the band's heavy, distorted sound (said to be influenced by Osbourne's tough industrial upbringing) revolutionised rock music, with Sabbath considered by many as the first real heavy metal band.

Their self-titled debut arrived in 1970, followed up by Paranoid in the same year. The latter topped the Uk album charts and featured a number of legendary songs, including the title track, 'Iron Man' and 'War Pigs'.

Osbourne was also known for his frontman antics, with his most notorious act coming in 1982, when he bit the head off a bat on-stage.

He struggled with addiction and his dependency on drugs and alcohol led him to being fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, though he later returned to the setup to record their album 13 in 2013.

After leaving Sabbath, Osbourne embarked on a solo career, releasing eleven studio albums.

In 1982 he married Sharon, who started managing his solo career. Her business smarts, along with her husband's massive popularity, earned them millions, with the Sunday Times labelling the pair as the 17th richest musicians in Britain in 2018.

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The couple, along with their children Kelly and Jack, starred in The Osbournes in the early '00s, a hit reality TV show which documented the family's life at home.

In 2005, two years after a quad bike accident which reportedly left him unable to breath for almost two minutes, Ozzy was diagnosed with Parkin syndrome.

He was meant to embark on his final world tour in 2019, but was prevented by illness, before announcing that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2020. After multiple surgeries in the following years he cancelled another tour in 2023.

The icon got his farewell concert earlier this month. On July 5, Ozzy reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for his farewell concert at Villa Park in his native Birmingham. The gig featured some of the most revered acts in metal and hard rock, including Metallica, Slayer and Pantera, as well as members from Guns 'N' Roses, Rage Against the Machine and many more.

While renowned as a heavy metaller, the tributes to Ozzy have come from musicians from every stripe...

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