Facebook<\/span><\/p>\n Tweet<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Email<\/span> Link<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> has been remembered as a \u201cpioneer,\u201d a \u201cfearless talent\u201d and a \u201cdear friend,\u201d in an outpouring of tributes from fellow musicians and his former Black Sabbath<\/a> bandmates following his death on Tuesday at the age of 76.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s really a shock,\u201d Black Sabbath co-founder and guitarist Tony Iommi told BBC Radio on Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s really hit me today to be honest. A terrible shock.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n News of the rock icon\u2019s death came just weeks after Black Sabbath reunited for one final concert in their native Birmingham, England, where Osbourne, the band\u2019s hellraising front man, performed seated on a throne.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt was brilliant to be with all the guys again,\u201d Iommi added. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant for Ozzy because he really wanted to do that. He felt at home there, it was really good for him, it was good for all of us to get together for a final thing. We didn\u2019t realise it was going to be this final, we didn\u2019t expect him to (pass away) but he hasn\u2019t looked well for a while.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Fellow Black Sabbath band member Bill Ward posted<\/a> on X, asking: \u201cWhere will I find you now? In the memories, our unspoken embraces, our missed phone calls, no, you\u2019re forever in my heart.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Friends from across the music industry also paid tribute to Osbourne. <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n \n Elton John, who featured on the title track of Osbourne\u2019s 2020 album \u201cOrdinary Man,\u201d remembered<\/a> his \u201cdear friend\u201d as a \u201chuge trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods\u201d and \u201cone of the funniest people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n \n Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood said<\/a> he was \u201cso very sad\u201d to hear of Osbourne\u2019s death, while Queen guitarist Brian May noted<\/a> that his final concert at Villa Park \u201cwas a glorious way to say goodbye \u2013 the love in that place for him was gigantic.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Birmingham\u2019s love for Osbourne was once again on show on Wednesday as fans turned the city\u2019s famous Black Sabbath bench and mural into makeshift memorials for him. As well as the customary flowers, candles and notes, someone left an Aston Villa scarf, referencing Osbourne\u2019s love for the soccer club.\n <\/p>\n \n Black Sabbath fan Dewain Reyna was among those gathering and told celebrity.land he booked his flight from Los Angeles to Birmingham just hours after he heard that Osbourne had died.\n <\/p>\n \n He flew over \u201cbecause of how much I love music and because how much Ozzy did for music, because of older people in my family who turned me on to Black Sabbath, (because) a lot of friends who Black Sabbath has changed their life, and especially for my people who are no longer with us \u2026 I have a couple of huge Ozzy fans that I wish they could have been (here),\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Osbourne was often referred to as the Godfather of Heavy Metal, a title he brushed off, but which alluded to his enormous influence over hard rock and heavy metal music.\n <\/p>\n \n Bands like Metallica, Pearl Jam and Nirvana all referenced the impact his music had on their own in their tributes to him.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to Metallica,\u201d the band said in a post on X<\/a>. \u201cHero, icon, pioneer, inspiration, mentor, and, most of all, friend are a few that come to mind.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOzzy and Sharon believed in us and transformed our lives and careers. He taught us how to play in the big leagues while at the same time being warm, welcoming, engaging, and all around brilliant.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Nirvana, too, thanked Osborne<\/a> for \u201cthe inspiration,\u201d calling Black Sabbath the \u201ctemplate for heavy rock.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Meanwhile, Pearl Jam\u2019s Mike McCready recounted<\/a> discovering Black Sabbath\u2019s music when he was a high school student, remembering that \u201cit was Ozzy\u2019s voice that took me away to a dark universe. A great escape.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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