The Life of Rock Icon: Ozzy Osbourne

Christopher Lambert

Staff Writer

John Michael (Ozzy) Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, one of the most iconic rock figures that ever lived, passed away on July 22. He leaves behind his wife Sharon and six children. 

The rockstar grew up in the Aston area of Birmingham, England. Osbourne had a very difficult childhood, including him citing that he attempted to take his own life several times as a teenager because of poor treatment by school peers. 

In Aug. 1969, after many attempts to form a great band, Osbourne formed Black Sabbath. The band used their frightening and gloomy sounds to feed into their crowds. Black Sabbath’s first two albums, “Black Sabbath” and “Paranoid,” were very successful with the male demographic, but the band realized that they were not drawing women to their music. 

The band decided to change their manager to Don Arden, which is how Osbourne met his future wife, Sharon. Don was Sharon’s father, and Sharon was working for him at the time. 

Black Sabbath’s third album, “Master of Reality,” put them on the map. The album reached the top ten in both the United States and the United Kingdom, reached platinum and double platinum status, and was ranked 298 out of 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. 

Between 1977 and 1978, Osbourne tried to pursue a solo project called “Blizzard of Oz.” The project was short-lived, and Osbourne rejoined Black Sabbath for their tour with Van Halen as their opener. 

Soon after their tour, Black Sabbath returned to the studio to record new music. Tensions rose between band members, and Osbourne was kicked out for excessive substance abuse. Osbourne believed that he did no more substance than the other members and was upset by the unfair judgement he received from the band. 

On his own, Osbourne was successful including a quadruple platinum single in the “Blizzard of Oz.” His solo career was taking off with his young guitarist Randy Rhoads, but a tragic accident killed Rhoads, causing Osbourne to fall into a deep depression and return home to Los Angeles with Sharon, who was sent by the Ardens to tend to his needs. Osbourne continued on without Rhoads and had a plethora of releases in the 80s, making it a successful decade for himself. 

In 1991, he released, “No More Tears,” which featured “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” In 1994, Ozzy won a grammy for “I Don’t Want to Change the World.” Soon after, he proclaimed a retirement tour. 

Osbourne tried to keep returning to music, including Black Sabbath reunions and even joining the last Black Sabbath tour. Osbourne created music with modern artists, such as Post Malone and Travis Scott, but time was catching up to Osbourne. 

In 2025, a few weeks before his death, he had his final show. During the show, Osbourne would not stand up and instead, had a massive throne he was sitting on. It was hard to watch, but a great final show from the Prince of Darkness.