Ozzy Osbourne, the iconic frontman of\u00a0the 1970s heavy metal band Black Sabbath, earned his infamy biting the head off a bat on stage and pursuing a drug-fuelled lifestyle before reinventing himself as a lovable if often foul-mouthed reality TV star.<\/p>\n
Osbourne, known to fans as the “Prince of Darkness” and the godfather of heavy metal,\u00a0died Tuesday morning at the age of 76, according to a family statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“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,” said the statement sent to CBC News on behalf of the family.<\/p>\n
“He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”<\/p>\n
No cause of death was released, but he’d\u00a0had a string of health issues in recent years.<\/p>\n
Parkinson’s diagnosis<\/h2>\n
Osbourne\u00a0announced in January 2020<\/a> that he had been diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s disease, known as Parkinsonism or Parkin 2<\/a>,\u00a0a nervous system disorder that affects movement.\u00a0In an interview with Good Morning America<\/em> at the time, he said\u00a0the diagnosis came after a fall.\u00a0He also had to cancel tour dates in 2019\u00a0due to health troubles.<\/p>\n Also in 2020, he told GQ<\/a> that he had emphysema, saying\u00a0he feared that as a result of this diagnosis,\u00a0he could die if he fell\u00a0ill with COVID-19.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He also had a long history of drug use and heavy drinking<\/a>.<\/p>\n Osbourne kicked off his career in the early 1970s, blaring out Black Sabbath\u00a0hits such as\u00a0Paranoid,<\/em>\u00a0War Pigs<\/em> and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath<\/em>.\u00a0Those plus a string of solo releases saw him sell more than 100 million records worldwide.<\/p>\n He was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame \u2014 once with Sabbath in 2006 and again in 2024 as a solo artist.<\/p>\n He\u00a0is survived by his wife, Sharon, who was also his manager;\u00a0their three children, Jack, Kelly and Aimee;\u00a0and three children from his first marriage\u00a0to Thelma Riley, Jessica, Louis and Elliot; as well as\u00a0several grandchildren.<\/p>\n Rock trailblazer Ozzy Osbourne dead at 76<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n John Michael ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath, has died at 76, his family confirmed Tuesday. Alan Cross, host of the Ongoing History of New Music podcast, says he will be remembered as ‘one of the most influential musicians of all time.’<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n Sabbath fired Osbourne in 1979 for his legendary excesses, which included showing up late for rehearsals and missing gigs.<\/p>\n “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)\u00a0Butler in his memoir, Into the Void<\/em>.<\/p>\n Osbourne re-emerged the next year as a solo artist with Blizzard of Ozz<\/em>\u00a0and the following year’s Diary of a Madman, <\/em>both hard rock classics that went multi-platinum and spawned enduring favourites such as Crazy Train<\/em>,\u00a0Goodbye to Romance<\/em>,\u00a0Flying High Again<\/em>\u00a0and You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll<\/em>.<\/p>\n He returned to Black Sabbath in 1997 and\u00a0in 2013 released the band’s final album,\u00a013,\u00a0<\/em>along with\u00a0two\u00a0other\u00a0original members<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 Butler\u00a0and guitarist Tony Iommi. The band toured until 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n The original four-man Sabbath lineup, including drummer Bill\u00a0Ward, reunited for the first time in 20 years earlier this month on\u00a0July 5\u00a0for what Osbourne said would be his final concert.<\/p>\n “Let the madness begin!” he told 42,000 fans in Birmingham.<\/p>\n Metallica, Guns N Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon all did sets.<\/p>\n Tom Morello, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, Ronnie Wood, Travis Barker, Sammy Hagar and more made appearances.<\/p>\n “Black Sabbath,\u00a0we’d all be different people without them, that’s the truth,” said Pantera singer Phil Anselmo on stage.<\/p>\n “I know I wouldn’t be up here with a microphone in my hand without Black Sabbath.”<\/p>\n See Ozzy Osbourne play final show, weeks before his death<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath played an emotional farewell gig in Birmingham, England, on July 5 in front of tens of thousands of fans. After the show, fans paid tribute to the godfather of heavy metal, who died Tuesday at the age of 76.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n The hard riffs and dark subject matter \u2014 from depression to war to apocalypse \u2014 were combined with an instinct for Halloween theatrics.<\/p>\n Osbourne\u00a0became known for stunts such as throwing raw meat\u00a0into the audience\u00a0and, in 1982, biting the head off a bat thrown on stage by a fan.<\/p>\n He always insisted he thought it was a toy until he bit into it, realized his mistake and rushed to hospital for a rabies shot. He later sold branded bat soft toys with a removable head.<\/p>\n Osbourne was a regular target for conservative and religious groups concerned about the negative impact of rock music on young people. He always acknowledged the excesses of his lifestyle and provocative lyrics \u2014 but poured scorn on the wilder reports that he was an actual devil-worshipper.<\/p>\n “I’ve done some bad things in my time. But I ain’t the devil,” he said in a 2010 biography.\u00a0“I’m just John Osbourne: a working class kid from Aston who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time.”<\/p>\n Born John Michael Osbourne, he was the fourth of six children, growing up in Aston, in the city of Birmingham in central England. He struggled with dyslexia, left school at age 15, did a series of menial jobs\u00a0and at one point served a brief prison sentence for burglary. Then came Black Sabbath.<\/p>\n “When I was growing up, if you’d have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of 60, with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and California, I wouldn’t have put money on me, no f–king way.”<\/p>\n It was those latter stages of his life that provided the setting for his reinvention in 2002 as the star of U.S. reality TV show The Osbournes<\/em>, featuring the rocker and his family members, including\u00a0wife, Sharon, and two of their five kids, Jack and Kelly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cameras followed the aging rock god as he ambled around his huge house, pronouncing on events in his heavy, Birmingham accent and looking on bemused at the antics of his family \u2014 a format that won them all legions of new fans.<\/p>\n His bandmates paid tribute to him on Tuesday in a post on Instagram with the simple message “Ozzy Forever.”<\/p>\n Elton John, also on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, called him “a dear friend and a trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Rod Stewart\u00a0told Osbourne\u00a0in an\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0post\u00a0to “sleep well.”\u00a0<\/p>\n “I’ll see you up there \u2014 later rather than sooner,” he joked.\u00a0<\/p>\n British TV host Piers Morgan, a longtime friend to Sharon Osbourne, remembered Osbourne\u00a0as “one of the greatest rock stars in history, and a wonderful character.”<\/p>\nReturn to Sabbath and a final show<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\nA rocker and a shocker<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>Life and legacy of a legendary musician<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>Ozzy remembered<\/h2>\n