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This week Ozzy Osbourne died at the age of 76, and there has been an outpouring of sympathy and tributes from the entire world. At nineteen, he was a founding member of Black Sabbath and had a successful solo career. He started the OzzFest music festival in 1996 when he was 47, but it was not until 2002, when MTV aired the reality show about the life of him and his family, The Osbournes, that he became a household name. This also switched his role from a feared metal singer to an iconic celebrity. Memories and sympathies have been shared by much more qualified people, including a heartwarming interview with Henry Rollins on CNN, but Ozzy is important enough to have every fan, no matter how small, share their memories about him, his music, and his influence.

I was born in the late 70s and when I was a kid, Ozzy Osbourne was the boogeyman. I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, and there was no way that I could listen to Ozzy’s music. He was the singer of Black Sabbath, and nothing should ever be dark about the Sabbath. He bit the heads off of doves and bats. He drank, did drugs, and pissed on the Alamo. But the biggest fear instilled in me was that listening to his music will drive me to suicide. In 1984, John McCollum, a clinically depressed teenager, listened to the Ozzy song, “Suicide Solution,” and killed himself. His parents sued Osbourne and lost, but this did not matter. In my house, he was the cause of it all. This was also in the midst of the Satanic Panic, with the crusade against everything that might have any sort of affiliation with the devil, so Ozzy Osbourne was very high on the list of public enemies. I was really young at this time so I did not really have much opinion. I just knew that going to the store and seeing the album covers and titles for The Ultimate Sin, Diary of a Madman, and No Rest for the Wicked reinforced the idea that my parents and the church was probably right. 

Then No More Tears came out in 1991. I was a freshman in high school, so by that time I was also listening to as much music as possible and starting to form my own opinions about life. Most of the songs on that album, including the hits like “The Road to Nowhere,” “Mama I’m Coming Home”, and “No More Tears”, seemed like songs less about evil and more about feelings of sadness and isolation, which is pretty much how I felt in my life. I also was starting to play music, and my guitar playing friends were really into “Crazy Train”. We played that song so much, multiple times every time we were jamming in my buddy’s barn, that I knew every beat of that song, every lyric, and I did not feel like it was really evil as much as just having a wild time. I also was learning a few Black Sabbath songs, mostly through covers from other bands, like Faith No More’s version of “War Pigs” and Pantera’s cover of “Planet Caravan.” Beyond these few songs and the Black Sabbath songs on the radio, which were pretty much “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”, I did not really delve into the Black Sabbath catalog or Ozzy Osbourne’s solo albums until I was well into adulthood.

Henry Rollins has a spoken word performance where he talks about meeting Ozzy and being such a huge fan of him and of Black Sabbath. I always respected Henry Rollins and his opinions, so him talking about Ozzy made me give his music a deeper listen. There is something to be said for the first four Black Sabbath albums being the music that not only shaped a generation but spawned a genre. Even when I listen to other metal bands, I am looking for the things that are prominent in those first four albums, especially the science fiction themes of songs like “Iron Man” and “Electric Funeral” and long instrumental breakdowns that really turn the song into a completely different listening experience. Black Sabbath has been in heavy rotation as I have grown older and started to appreciate different things in the music that I listen to. This has led to a growing love of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osborne because I love different things than when I was a teenager. Having said this, I do not think that I would have thought much about Black Sabbath if it was not for Henry Rollins being such a huge fan and friend of Ozzy Osbourne.

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is also a huge fan and wrote a 33 ⅓ book about the Black Sabbath album Master of Reality. In the book, he talks about Black Sabbath being one of those bands that inspires a group of friends to start a band. Throughout his career, Ozzy Osbourne created music that was never perfect and polished. His best songs are raw and a little sloppy. His best singing is not great. His best lyrics are sometimes a little silly. The early Black Sabbath albums sound as if they were rehearsed mostly in neighborhood garages. This gives every artist hope. Aspiring musicians, like my friends when I was in high school, are given the courage to start bands, write songs, and be exactly who they want to be because Ozzy did it, and look at how good he did. This makes Ozzy Osbourne, not only a legend, but a true starting point, the north star or the ground zero of countless bands and artists, some famous but some still practicing in the garage. His success is proof that passion and love is just as important as talent. 

Ozzy Osbourne will be missed dearly, by his family, his friends, the artists he influenced, and by his fans, but I also feel like his legacy will live on in every single person that sees him and Black Sabbath as a part of their lives. He might be the starting point in their musical journeys but he is also the starting point in many every day journeys. True legends never die; they just continue to grow through those whom they influence. Ozzy’s music and legacy will live on forever.