Weeks after his farewell concert, the godfather of heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne died at age 76. The throaty Black Sabbath lead was tied to a chair during his last concert so he wouldn’t fall. He had Parkinson’s disease.
“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. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” a family statement from Birmingham, England, said. In 2020, he revealed he had Parkinson’s disease after suffering a fall.
His music was loud, angry, and demon-invoking. It crashed onto the scene in 1969 during the Vietnam and hippie era. The themes of the music were ethical.
Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, like showing up late for rehearsals and missing gigs. “We knew we didn’t really have a choice but to sack him because he was just so out of control. But we were all very down about the situation,” wrote bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler in his memoir, “Into the Void.”
He reemerged in a year and for years after with hit after hit.
The original Sabbath lineup reunited for the first time in 20 years in July for what Osbourne said would be his final concert. “Let the madness begin!” he told 42,000 fans in Birmingham.
Osbourne embodied the excesses of metal. His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably, biting the head off the live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert. (He said he thought it was rubber.)
He stayed married to his wife Sharon Levy since 1982 and they had three children. Before that he was married in 1971 to Thelma Riley and they had three children, one of whom he adopted from her previous relationship.
He was a human like the rest of us. Life is fragile. Time is limited. Ozzy Osbourne has died. Crazy Train has left the station. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ug8aK8I59v
— Daniel Bennett (@DanielBennettNY) July 22, 2025
Paranoid was my favorite Black Sabbath album. Crazy Train and No More Tears were my favorite Ozzy songs. This was my favorite Ozzy Osbourne moment… RIP Ozzy pic.twitter.com/ghlWjZEypW
— Steve Palec (@stevepalec) July 22, 2025
Ozzy Osbourne performs "Crazy Train" for the last time in front of the audience at Villa Park in Birmingham pic.twitter.com/NRWtNCIwYG
— Rock History (@historyrock_) July 5, 2025
Ozzy Osbourne dies at 76.
This was his last performance… just days before. Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/7Cv5wGa4S1
— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) July 22, 2025
— Ⓡ (@RockChannel_Vid) December 13, 2024
His singing live was awful. He spent his life drugged up and drunk. Black Sabbath was carried by a fine guitarist, who had 2 fingers half cut off in an industrial accident.
Ozzy is now with his God, Satan, for all eternity.