Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Bow: A Legend of Rock and Rebellion Dies at 76

John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne, the pioneering frontman of Black Sabbath whose unmistakable voice and tumultuous life helped define the genre of heavy metal, died on July 22, 2025. 

His publicist confirmed the death but did not immediately specify a cause. Osbourne had faced a number of health challenges in recent years, including a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, multiple surgeries, and a severe spinal injury that curtailed his touring career.

Born in Aston, Birmingham, in 1948, Osbourne rose from working-class obscurity to global stardom in the early 1970s as the voice of Black Sabbath, a band widely credited with inventing heavy metal. Their early albums — Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), and Master of Reality (1971); fused ominous guitar riffs, dark lyrical themes, and Osbourne’s haunting vocals to create a sound that was as menacing as it was magnetic.

Ozzy Osbourne never really made sense on paper. A working-class kid from Birmingham with no clear future. A voice too weird for pop, too strange for the mainstream. He stumbled through school, battled with the law, and spent time in prison. But when he opened his mouth in a dingy studio with three other misfits, heavy metal was born. Not invented but born. Screaming, shaking, thundering into the world.

Sabbath’s music spoke to a post-industrial generation grappling with war, alienation, and social disillusionment. Osbourne’s voice — eerie, insistent, and emotionally raw;  became the defining sound of that reckoning.

Following his dismissal from Black Sabbath in 1979, Osbourne embarked on a solo career that proved equally, if not more, influential. Teaming with virtuoso guitarist Randy Rhoads, he released Blizzard of Ozz (1980), an album that produced enduring tracks like Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley, and marked a new chapter in heavy metal’s evolution. Over the following decades, Osbourne would release more than a dozen solo albums, blending theatricality with vulnerability in a way that resonated with fans across generations.

Despite or perhaps because of  his often chaotic personal life, Osbourne remained a cultural icon. His struggles with substance abuse were well documented, as were his many comebacks. In 2002, he became an unlikely reality television star when The Osbournes, a fly-on-the-wall MTV series featuring Ozzy and his family, brought a new level of fame and visibility to the rock legend. The show revealed a softer, more bemused side of Osbourne, endearing him to a broader audience beyond his fanbase.

Osbourne’s influence on music is difficult to overstate. Artists across genres, from Metallica to Slipknot to Post Malone have cited him as a formative inspiration. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath in 2006 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Even in his final years, as his health declined and touring stopped, Ozzy never stopped being Ozzy. The wit was there. Self-awareness. The deep, unmistakable love for his fans. He’d joke about dying, about falling apart, but there was still that grin. Still that voice.

Ozzy Osbourne’s career spanned more than five decades. He was a pioneer, a survivor, and above all, a singular voice in the history of music. His legacy will endure  not only in the records he made and the stages he dominated, but in every defiant note that still dares to be played too loud.