Ozzy Osbourne. So few names in history have been as universally recognized or needed as little to no introduction as he has. Even just the word “Ozzy” alone is enough to invoke an array of memories and emotions for nearly any functional adult that’s been paying attention for the past five plus decades (including those who aren’t even necessarily “fans”).
Not even three weeks ago I was researching and writing about Ozzy’s life in preparation for his final, “Back to the Beginning” show both as a solo artist, and as a member of the pioneering heavy metal act Black Sabbath that he had co-founded alongside Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward so many years ago back in 1968. Like so many others, I watched with my family as Ozzy and company said their farewells on stage from Birmingham, England. And like so many others, I mourned at the news of his passing yesterday, just seventeen days after that monumental final show.
I considered the fact that writing about both Ozzy and Sabbath again so closely after the last time might run the risk of some redundancy, but how could I not do a full tribute for such a deserving figure? That being said, I decided I would not get too detailed here, and would try to focus more on conveying what Ozzy has meant to me personally, rather than give a straight history lesson on his life alone.
As previously stated, Osbourne began his musical journey in the late 1960’s as a member of Black Sabbath, who are largely considered to this day to be the forefathers of heavy metal music. The band released their first self-titled album in 1970, and Osbourne stayed with them throughout the rest of the decade before his erratic behavior brought on by drugs and alcohol saw him dismissed from the band shortly after 1978’s Never Say Die! album.
A comeback of epic proportions ensued in the following decade when, with the aid of new manager (and future wife) Sharon and a hotshot new guitarist by the name of Randy Rhoads helped get Ozzy in shape for a solo career that started with 1980’s Blizzard of Oz record.
A string of albums, including 1981’s Diary of a Madman (the final before Rhoads’ untimely death in a plane accident), 1983’s Bark at the Moon, 1986’s The Ultimate Sin, and 1988’s No Rest For the Wicked (the latter of which the first to feature longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde) cemented Osbourne’s role as the “Prince of Darkness.”
By 1991’s No More Tears LP, I was beginning to really start to appreciate Ozzy’s music, just as it seemed as though he might be ready to retire from it. Thankfully for me though that was not the case, and just two years after the release of 1995’s Ozzmosis album I would be seeing him on stage for the first time, both as a solo artist, and as a member of the reunited Black Sabbath (sans Bill Ward on drums) at the 1997 Ozzfest. It was an epic experience I only wish I had soaked in a little longer.
Around this same time, I had also started playing the bass guitar and even started my first garage band, ironically with two of my fellow friends/classmates that I had attended said Ozzfest with in the ’90s. I would practice that bass for hours, likely driving my family insane (my poor parents were the ones who even gifted me the instrument in the first place) as I learned many an Ozzy or Sabbath song, some for band practices, some just for fun (I was dumbfounded the first time I ever made my way through “Crazy Train” from start to finish, which to the best of my memory was the first song I ever learned to play in its entirety).
Several years later, I would see Ozzy and Sabbath on stage once again, this time for the 2004 Ozzfest, and this time with the entire original lineup together at last, including Bill Ward. I remember driving all the way from essentially Orlando to Tampa directly after getting off of work (something that would likely not be possible for me nowadays) to make the show, and sitting on the lawn by my lonesome (my girlfriend at the time and her friends all left early for whatever reason) before someone graciously handed me an upgraded ticket about eleven rows back from the stage. From there, the party truly began, and even Ozzy’s wife, Sharon, was there to introduce the band at the height of the Osbournes’ newfound reality TV show fame, too.
I had a chance to go to one more Ozzfest in 2007, but at the time I was still a relatively new father, and it just wasn’t the feasible thing to do just then (no doubt something I now regret to some degree in hindsight).
But by 2010, something equally as exciting as watching your heroes live happened. I had worked my way into music journalism as a freelancer by that point, and was given the chance to interview original Sabbath drummer and longtime bandmate to Ozzy, Bill Ward. I could not believe my luck as I actually spoke to this living legend on the phone as he recounted many of his historic memories with me that day (I would have a similar experience a few years later in 2018 when I also interviewed former Ozzy bassist Phil Soussan for Rewind It Magazine).
By 2023, my own son was old enough to not only start appreciating many of these moments, but also start taking part in some of them, too. First by seeing the reunited Pantera with said Ozzy axeman Zakk Wylde in place of the late Dimebag Darrell (who ironically was also there at that ’97 Ozzfest as an opening band so many years prior), but also meet one of Osbourne’s own offspring, Jack Osbourne, that same summer as well (see photo below).
The author (second from right) with (from left to right) Brooke Striewski (wife), Jack Osbourne, and Jacob Striewski (son) at Spookala on 6-10-23.
When the devastating news of Osbourne’s passing first began making waves yesterday afternoon, I knew the impact would be like none other before it. Every musician or artist of any kind that I follow were each posting their own unique tributes to this person that affected so many lives, and even friends and family were reaching out to me as though I had lost someone close to me (which in a way we all had). The only response that made any sense to me at the time was to simply gather all of my Ozzy and Sabbath records, CD’s, tapes, and concert ticket stubs and put them all together as a shrine of sorts (see photo below).
Various Ozzy Osbourne-related items from the author’s personal collection.
I found it appalling that there was also somehow still a sub-sect of people out there posting negative comments online about Osbourne, calling him “problematic” among other ignorant things. One such person even went as far as saying he had “never done anything good” during his time here, but based off of the $190 million Osbourne’s final concert raised alone for Parkinson’s and other charities, I’d say that’s a fairly false observation (and it has got to be exhausting to be that way).
As I’m sure he was to so many others, Ozzy was like that second dad – or at the very least that unhinged uncle your parents don’t want you spending too much time around (I’ve often related my own father, whose date of birth is only separated from Ozzy’s by a mere ten days, to him). In an even stranger turn of events, Ozzy not only left this world in the same manner as my late uncle Joe, but also on the same anniversary of my late cousin Scott Striewski, who was a born rocker through and through, that passed away on July 22, 1998.
The influence Ozzy Osbourne had on both music and the world itself is immeasurable, and the lasting impact he’s had and will continue to have for generations to come, is indescribable. He was a legend we loved while he was here with us, and a beloved icon that will now forever remain in each of our hearts until the end of time. Goodbye, Ozzy.
