The Enigma of Ozzy Osbourne (RIP)

On the 22nd of July this year, the headbanger community was shaken by the loss of one of their genre’s beloved founding fathers, Ozzy Osbourne. Launching heavy metal as we know it today in 1970 with Black Sabbath, going on to become one of the world’s most notorious shock rock acts, and eventually becoming the angry Brummie guy of reality TV with the Osbournes, it becomes clear that Ozzy was a man with many faces. 

For the 80s televangelists, he was the antichrist. For the aspiring musicians who followed the path paved by Sabbath, he was an idol. To some, he was the Prince of Darkness. According to his bass-thumping bandmate and friend Geezer Butler, he was the Prince of Laughter. Once, he was a working man and petty thief from Aston, Birmingham. Only a couple weeks before he was sent off to eternity, he was the on-stage commander of an audience of 40,000 people. 

But behind the mystique of the velvet curtains surrounding the Wizard of Ozz, who really was John Michael Osbourne? 

The industrial environment did not promise a future filled with bright skies for the youth of Birmingham back in the day: the main careers awaiting them after school would generally be factory work. Born in the Aston area in the winter of ‘48, John Osbourne was having a hard time fitting in to this predetermined life. While school tried to fulfill its traditional purpose in integrating students into society, the bullying he faced, as well as his then undiagnosed dyslexia, made John realize he just wasn’t cast from the same mold as his peers. 

Before becoming the man of many faces, even then, he dreamt of himself in another shell, envisioning himself as Paul McCartney in front of the mirror. After his introduction to The Beatles, John slowly started to dream of another life as a musician in the rock ‘n’ roll world. However, the problem was that he didn’t know how to play an instrument, nor did he know anyone who did – besides a bully he knew from school. Nonetheless, he decided to at least win by the looks, so he grew his hair out and learned how to tattoo himself. One day, he spent his entire day at a park, tattooing on his knuckles the name he would be known by for the rest of his life: 

“O-Z-Z-Y”

Slowly, he started integrating into the local music scene after sending out signs saying a “professional” vocalist named “Ozzy Zig” was looking for bandmates. In a twist of fate, the person who answered the call was none other than that bully from school, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. With the addition of guitarist-turned-bassist Geezer Butler, a heavy blues band was formed which would eventually be named “Black Sabbath.”

Like Ozzy, they similarly sought out a life beyond the factory’s black veil of smoke. Iommi for instance, worked as a factory worker and had even lost the tips of his fingers in an accident. Nonetheless, he adapted his technique by wearing artificial fingertips and downtuning, which resulted in the formation of the heavy metal sound. 

When the sounds of rain, thunder, and distant church bells were heard on the turntable, followed by a guitar riff which resounded the Devil’s tritone, listeners were immediately immersed into a darker world of music with Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut album. Well – not everyone. The band easily became a target for critics, as their music was labelled as “satanic” or even “monotonous.” However, the band’s defence would be that if attention was paid to the lyrics, the entire album was filled with warnings against black magic, instead of praise for the devil. 

Nevertheless, this notoriety followed Sabbath and Ozzy for the rest of their careers, creating an image they would continuously and simultaneously both construct and deconstruct. The band reportedly hated the positive vibes of the hippie music of the late 60s, and went on to make the opposite of it with darker riffs and heavy-hitting drums. At the same time, Ozzy would come up to the stage throwing out the peace sign while singing the band’s anti-war songs like “War Pigs” and “Children of the Grave.” The band’s lyrics would concern evil and devilish imagery, but while on stage, the band members would be seen wearing the biggest crosses around their necks. 

The multifaceted sides of an artist’s image carried onto Ozzy’s solo career, and arguably launched him as one of the quintessential shock rock figures. With the launch of his solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz, he slowly found his way through occult imagery with the legendary song “Mr. Crowley” about cult leader Aleister Crowley. However, beneath the eeriness of the gigantic organs in the beginning and Randy Rhoades’ soaring solos, the lyricism was quite skeptical of Crowley’s public figure, and whether or not he was a charlatan or someone who actually got lost in the persona he created around him. The same mysticism would go on to surround Ozzy. 

Televangelists at the time called his music “the devil’s music.” In the midst of public controversies surrounding his infamous bat-head-biting incident, drug abuse, and use of horror imagery on his album covers, Ozzy became the enemy of censorship and the conservative mindset.

Nonetheless, he found a way of turning his infamy to his advantage: by fighting back. 

Even though the authorship of Ozzy’s songs has always been a matter of debate and legal disputes, it is still nonetheless true that many of his lyrics appear to correspond with his artist persona. The song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebel” very overtly makes his intentions clear, “They say I worship the devil / They must be stupid, alright / I’m just a rock ‘n’ roll rebel.” 1987’s “Miracle Man” sees Ozzy having the last laugh following the prostitution scandal of his biggest hater, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, showing the world who the real critic is. 

From werewolf costumes to vampire fangs, the fusion of horror and heavy metal remained a mainstay in Ozzy’s career. However, another side of the Prince of Darkness was revealed when millions suddenly had access to his home life with the reality show, The Osbournes. Suddenly, in front of the eyes of his fans, Ozzy appeared as a father, a grumpy middle-aged British guy, and a legendary jokester. 

While the echoes of screams and laughter still lingered on through stadiums, speakers, TVs, and mobile phones, Ozzy’s retirement from touring life inevitably arrived due to his battles with Parkinson’s disease. Nonetheless, he made his last triumphant return to the stage with the Back to the Beginning concert, where metal legends gathered to pay their tributes to the reformed Black Sabbath and all the proceedings went to charity for Parkinson’s research. Fans report that seeing Ozzy sat on his throne, desperately trying to get up to party, was heartbreaking, but hearts would be breaking twice that night when he sang his most well-known ballad “Mama, I’m Coming Home” with a gravelly delivery. 

There was a particular image or sound in everyone’s minds and ears when the news of Ozzy’s death was revealed. He had a diverse array of personas and distinct yet immediately recognizable voices throughout his career.

The most important thing Ozzy brought vocally to the table for the metal world was being Ozzy. There has never been a voice like Ozzy’s, because his influences and (lack of) singing background were so different to the voices we would traditionally associate with metal. In the first Sabbath albums, he sounds like a soul singer, going for a deeper, more dramatic voice. By “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” he had reached a much higher-pitched channel which captured the energy of his erratic moves on stage. 

During his solo career after his dismissal from Sabbath, he found his classic Ozzy voice. A highly expressive voice, balancing devilish low groans and his jokey, almost sarcastic snarl. His voice would remain highly melodic and clean during the songs, which differed in an inexplicable way from other vocalists. He just had one of those voices which you could not mistake. 

The Crazy Train has rolled on, controlled by the Hand of Doom, Over the Mountain Into the Void. 

They say there’s No Rest for the Wicked, but No More Tears from Me. 

We’ll See You On the Other Side.