Black Sabbath singer and co-founder Ozzy Osbourne, one of the true legends of Rock Music, has died at the age of 76.
A statement from the Osbourne family reads: “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 ‘cause of death’ was not announced despise Ozzy’s failing health in recent years. He had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.
Ozzy had six children. Jessica and Louis with first wife Thelma, adopted son Riley, and Aimee , Kelly and Jack with wife Sharon.
The original Black Sabbath only played their last performance weeks ago on 5 July, 2025 in Birmingham.
The setlist was:
War Pigs
N.I.B.
Iron Man
Paranoid
It was their first appearance with founding drummer Bill Ward since 2005 and first Black Sabbath show since 2017.
Ozzy also performed a solo show on the day singing:
I Don’t Know
Mr Crowley
Suicide Solution
Mama I’m Coming Home
Crazy Train
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward became Black Sabbath in August 1969. This was the same line-up that played at the Birmingham show weeks ago.
John ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne was born 3 December 1948 in Marston Green on the outskirts of Birmingham, UK. The son of toolmaker Jack Osbourne had three older sisters Jean, Iris and Gillian and younger brothers Paul and Tony.
As a child, Ozzy participated in school plays including Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘The Mikado’ and ‘HMS Pinafore’.
In 1967 Geezer Butler formed his first band Rare Breed. He chose Ozzy as the singer. They became Polka Tulk with Tony Iommi and Bill Ward. That was the Black Sabbath line-up. They changed the name to Earth and then Black Sabbath, after a movie of the same name.
The first album was the self-titled ‘Black Sabbath’, released 13 February 1970. Seven months later the second album ‘Paranoid’ was released and broke the band worldwide.
Eight months after ‘Paranoid’, the third album ‘Master of Reality’ was released. It was Sabbath’s third album in 18 months. The fourth album ‘Vol. IV’ featured the song ‘Changes’.
Ozzy was lead singer for the first eight Black Sabbath albums but after 1978’s ‘Never Say Die’ Ozzy was fired from the band because he was considered “unreliable” and his constant “excessive substance abuse” . He was replaced with Ronnie James Dio.
Black Sabbath released one more album with Ozzy. ‘13’ was released in 2013
During his first time in Sabbath, Ozzy met manager Don Arden’s daughter Sharon, who also co-managed the band. After Ozzy left Sabbath, Sharon managed his solo career. They married in 1982.
Ozzy released his first album ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ in 1980. The album featured songs that became Ozzy classics, ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Mr Crowley’.
Ozzy released 13 solo albums between 1980 and 2022. ‘Patient Number 9’ was the last Ozzy album with guests Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi and Taylor Hawkins.
Between 2002 and 2005, the Osbourne family created the behind the scenes reality show ‘The Osbournes’. It became the most viewed show on MTV.
A second show ‘Osbournes Reloaded’ was made for FOX in 2009. Ozzy’s son Jack Osbourne made a third show ‘Ozzy and Jack’s World Tour’ in 2016 for A&E.
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