A madman’s goodbye: Remembering Ozzy Osbourne
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Written by Morgan Salzer (Guest Contributor)
Musician Ozzy Osbourne has tragically passed away at the age of 76, on July 22, 2025, leaving behind millions of mourners and a legacy as wild as it was iconic.
And what a life he did have. Ozzy—the fearless, the father, the son, and now, the holy ghost—lived true to his chaotic spirit until the moment he died. Just 17 days before his passing, Osbourne joined his Black Sabbath bandmates onstage at Villa Park in Birmingham for the one-night-only farewell show “Back to the Beginning." Seated in a throne of black metal, he performed included a solo set that included “Mr. Crowley," “Mama, I'm Coming Home," and "Crazy Train" before joining Black Sabbath to play hits that included “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” and “Iron Man.” He sported his iconic raccoon eyes and joked flippantly with the crowd. The concert drew thousands live, and millions more streaming, unknowing it would be his last performance.
What drew me to Ozzy—what I think draws so many to the man—was his complete dominance over life. He was metal, through and through—he helped define it. Like the age-old question of the chicken or the egg, there is heavy metal and Black Sabbath. While the distorted guitars on Master of Reality and the raw vocals of “Is God Dead?” are entirely representative of metal as a genre, so was the essence of Ozzy himself. Ozzy, who snorted a line of ants with Mötley Crüe (allegedly), who adorned in his future wife’s dress, urinated on the Alamo, who bit the heads off a live dove and bat in concert.
But like the sudden tenderness of “Orchid,” the musician was multifaceted. He was married to his wife, Sharon, for 43 years, and was an active part of raising their three children—Aimee, Jack, and Kelly—as documented in their MTV show The Osbournes, which ran in the early 2000s. After his final show, Ozzy was present to witness his daughter’s engagement to Slipknot’s Sid Wilson. Though “family man” may not be synonymous with “rockstar,” he maintained a close relationship with the members of his immediate family until the day he died.
Through his career, Ozzy Osbourne fronted one of the most famous heavy metal bands in history, Black Sabbath, and later led his solo project, Blizzard of Ozz. To his name, he had five Grammy Awards, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (once with Sabbath in 2006 and again solo in 2024), a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and one Lifetime Achievement Award. Collectively, Ozzy can be attributed to countless more minor awards, from iHeartRadio Music Awards to MTV and Teen Choice Awards.
Ozzy Osbourne’s cause of death remains undisclosed, though he had publicly battled Parkinson’s disease since 2020, along with spinal and mobility issues that led to multiple surgeries in recent years. The announcement from his family stated simply:
“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’s privacy at this time.”
Through Heaven and Hell, Ozzy Osbourne will be missed. Rest in heavy metal, music legend.
