Osbourne, Ozzy (1948-…), is a British singer and songwriter who became famous as a member of Black Sabbath, an influential heavy metal rock band. Heavy metal rock features strong electric guitar solos over a steady, even beat. Osbourne attracted controversy for his lyrics, which focused on the occult (beliefs and practices involving magic or forces outside the natural world). He also became known for his outrageous stage performances. Osbourne later became a popular solo performer. He won a Grammy Award for best metal vocal performance for “I Don’t Want to Change the World” from the live album Live & Loud (1993). Since then, Osbourne has won a number of other Grammy Awards for his solo work. From 2002 to 2005, Osbourne starred with his wife and manager, Sharon, and their teenage children on the popular MTV reality show “The Osbournes.”
John Michael Osbourne was born in Aston, Birmingham, England, on Dec. 3, 1948. He received the nickname “Ozzy” in primary school. He helped form the group that became Black Sabbath in the late 1960’s. The members named the group Black Sabbath in 1969, after a 1963 horror film of the same name. The group’s first album, Black Sabbath, was released in 1970. The album reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom. It later sold well in the United States. The group’s second album, Paranoid, was released later in 1970 and also became a hit. It featured some of the group’s best-known songs, “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” and “War Pigs.” Osbourne recorded six more albums with Black Sabbath during the 1970’s. The most successful were Master of Reality (1971), Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 (1972), and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973).
In 1978, Osbourne left the band and began a successful solo career. Osbourne’s first solo album, Blizzard of Oz (1980), became his most successful. It featured the hits “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley.” Osbourne’s second album, Diary of a Madman (1981), was also successful. It featured the hits “Flying High Again” and “Over the Mountain.” Osbourne’s other successful solo albums include Bark at the Moon (1983); The Ultimate Sin (1986), featuring the hit “Shot in the Dark”; No Rest for the Wicked (1988); No More Tears (1991); Ozzmosis (1995); Black Rain (2007); Ordinary Man (2020); and Patient Number 9 (2022).
In 1982, Osbourne married Sharon Arden, and she became Sharon Osbourne. Ozzy Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of Black Sabbath. The four original members of Black Sabbath reunited several times in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. In 2011, Osbourne and two of the original members of Black Sabbath reunited to record and tour. The reunited Black Sabbath won a Grammy Award for best metal performance for “God Is Dead?” from the studio album 13 (2013). The group performed a final tour in early 2017. Osbourne wrote a best-selling memoir, I Am Ozzy (2010). He announced in 2023 that he would retire from touring due to an injury.
