I feel very privileged to have worked with Ozzy .First at Virgin Music Publishing and then when I was brought in to run Epic Associated by Tommy Mottola. I hired Michael Goldstone to be my AnR guy and asked him to work with Ozzy on his next album.
No More Tears!
Goldie was brilliant.
Ozzy was a God. I loved the man and was overcome by how sad I was last night when I heard the news.
You're right about Sharon. One of the all time great managers.
The world needs more characters like Ozzy Osbourne.
He was a superstar.
I shall miss him a lot.
Richard Griffiths
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I'm in Amalfi, Italy on vacation with my wife, at dinner, when a friend texted me the news. It took me back to being a teenager in the '70's, hearing the riffs like Iron Man, and diving headfirst into his first solo album And discovering the genius of Randy Rhoads! Saw the Diary of a Madman tour in Phoenix at the Coliseum on January 1, 1982, just short of being able to drive. It was spectacle and rock and rock magic with Ozzy as the ringmaster. And later I saw Black Sabbath on the tour they did around 2015, with my wife and two oldest, who were around the same age I was when I first saw him in the early '80's. They had found Black Sabbath and Ozzy too.. How cool?!
Love this quote: "I'm not the Antichrist. I'm just a guy from Birmingham who got lucky." And of course we all know luck is when preparation meets opportunity. He took opportunity head on through his career.
Cheers to Ozzy and all he gave us! I will be cranking some Sabbath today in the Italian riviera and toasty the great music.
Neal Bookspan
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The scene in Spheeris Decline of Western Civilization - Nuff said: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMbc54zJcE2/?igsh=YnVyM2Z0YXBpNHhu
Luke Joerger
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Oh, that Ozzy was quite a character.
Case in point.
Back in 82 or 83, our illustrious Program Director, Ms Sam Bellamy, arranged (along with Epic Records) for the KMET staff to go up to Sharon and Ozzy's home to listen to, and preview, his forthcoming album—can't remember which record it was, maybe a live one (?). This was a week or so before its release. Anyway, a bunch of us drove up to their home somewhere in the hills above Beverly Hills. Very nice pad, of course. So we all got up there for lunch and beverages. Sharon was the gracious host and Ozzy kinda bounced in and out of their living room while we all hung out and listened. After it was over and we all bade farewell, we headed out to their driveway, only to discover that all of our cars had flat tires. Turned out that Ozzy had snuck outside and let the air out of our tires.
Sly. Mischievous.
Hugh Surratt
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RIP Ozzy. End of an era.
Kim Kay
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Grateful for your insights at this very sad time for music and for the world. We were all misfits and Ozzy was truly one of us. Will miss him forever.
Flo Kaczorowski
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After the final concert, I listened to the first two Sabbath albums. I bought them when they came out, during high school, based on seeing the first album cover. What jumped out most was Ozzy's singing and the lyric writing. Ozzy was nailing it. No pitch correction, obviously, and no huge effects, etc. It's undeniable, totally authentic and sits right in front of that heavy-weight band. Not as easy as it looks. And...creating a whole new genre of Rock, as well! As James Hetfield said, without Black Sabbath there would be no Metallica. The fact that one of the biggest touring acts of 2025 draws a line directly back to Ozzy says it all. R.I.P.
Robert Bond
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Ozzie was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Dark Side.
He was not only the inspiration for many new artists but he used Ozzfest to create a platform for them to play to large crowds. Just like the Dangerfield Club in NY introduced new comedians
You could see the excitement backstage of the early bill acts when they got to the venue…..and how they practically venerated Ozzie. Some came back to headline. I
think Ozzie saw himself as the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. He never took himself too seriously but he had a mission and vision.
Tom Rooney
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Gotta say I'm with you on your take Bob..Of all the Ozzy records through the years , No More Tears was the first one to make me go 'whoa , listen to THAT ' ..Very 'modern' production yet still HEAVY..It had depth both musically and from a production standpoint with infectious hooks without compromising 'the heavy' .It was a musical statement pure and simple.
That Ozzy could not only evolve but TRIUMPH..Duane Baron and John Purdell were quite the sought after production duo in those days.Duane is brilliant engineer (I learned how to record guitars apprenticing for him for a time) and John Purdell was a musical tour de force with brilliant ideas (may he rest in peace) I circled back to the earlier stuff and came to absolutely love tracks like 'Flying high Again' and 'Mr. Crowley' but No More Tears was the record that REALLY grabbed me and wouldn't let go ...A Metal Masterpiece...Yeah we lost a GIANT yesterday , I doubt we'll ever see another like him again (not in our lifetime anyway )
Long live the price of darkness !
Warmest Regards
Brett Chassen
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Summer of '71, at a lake cabin in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa, that only country stations could reach, my friends and I had two albums to fill our heads, Paranoid and Led Zeppelin III. Zeppelin was fine, but nothing hit our 14-year-old heads like War Pigs and the title track.
Fast forward 10 years, and I'm hitchhiking south from London to Plymouth to catch a ferry over to the Isle of Wight (If it's not too dear), and the artist who did the cover for LZ III, Zacron, picks me up in a van with his 2-year-old daughter in tow, and took me all the way to the docks, the whole while regaling me with his tales of the London scene past…Clapton, Page, Mayall, and the like. His last tidbit was that he had approached Ozzie to do some cover work, and even though they hit it off, Ozzie declared Zacron's art "too pretty" and that ended there.
A year later, I'm back in Iowa, and on a whim, I scored a ticket for Ozzie's show at Des Moines' Vet's Auditorium, an acoustic barn of a building where I'd seen numerous acts over the years and bore witness to the bat beheading incident that more or less put Des Moines on the map. T. Joseph Wilson
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I never got deep into metal music, just a dabbling. But I'll always have a soft spot for Ozzy because on the way to the hospital to deliver my child, the last song I heard on the radio was "Mama, I'm Coming Home."
Rest in peace, Ozzy. Sorry your body gave out when you had more of you to share.
- Mary Holland
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What a loss. Musically, Black Sabbath and Ozzy's solo work are undeniable. He touched so many people. Once the curtain was peeled back on "The Osbournes," he became someone people rooted for. He seemed like a genuinely lovely guy and a loving father. The respect he received from all those great artists at "Back To The Beginning" was incredible to see.
A cool story: My dad went to the University of Miami and saw Black Sabbath perform live on October 31, 1970. It was the Paranoid Tour and they opened for Canned Heat. Imagine hearing all those songs live at this early stage of their career?!
Two of my father's favorite artists are Brian Wilson and Ozzy Osbourne. He's close in age to both of them, so their passing hit especially hard for him and me.
Best
Justin Kleinfeld
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I met Ozzy a few years ago and told him my first concert was his in 1986 and "I was never the same". He replied "me neither".
Lou Smith
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Black Sabbath was my first concert, August 5th, 1975, at the Asbury Park Convention Hall. I was 16 years old, and begged my parents to buy tickets and drive my brother, my best friend and me to the concert from Queens. They did.
I'd discovered Sabbath in '73, watching the California Jam on ABC. Children of the Grave, War Pigs, and I was slain. I had a new favorite band. Loved the dark tuned down guitars, loved how they lined up without fuss across the stage, with the lead singer stage left. Ozzy Osbourne was not featured, he was one of four, clinging to the mic and singing mad tales of woe. And he seemed to care about the people he was singing to.
It was not cool to be a Sabbath fan in high school. But I wore my Sabbath t-shirt regularly, and those few of us who were fans found each other.
The hall in Asbury Park held about five thousand people standing on the floor, no seats. My bestie and brother and I pushed up to about ten people back from the stage, with no idea what to expect…our first concert. We took in the wall of amps…none of these props…Tony Iommi playing through three stacks, Geezer Butler through four. The house lights went down, but not the stage lights as Ozzy (26 years old) walked out, peace signs flying. The band walked into position without fuss, and opened with Killing Yourself to Live.
The sound of Black Sabbath live, point blank, has no equal. Ozzy appeared to be as blown away by their sound as we five thousand were. Sabbath roared!
In between each song Ozzy would either A: introduce the next tune, B: say "I want to see you move!" or C: tell us how much he and the band loved us.
By the time the concert ended I was a new person, happily warped by the power and the vibe. As Ozzy walked off the stage he grabbed a handful of carnations (Ward's drums were covered with carnations) and threw them into the audience. I caught one, brought it home and pressed it into my teenage scrapbook. I have it still.
Would go on to see the band again several times. Years later working at MTV I was once in a room when Ozzy came in. He was such a wasted mess that I chose to not to meet him. I had my concert memories.
I'm so happy he got to perform with Black Sabbath one last time. That he got to feel the love of his legions of fans. That he got to shake the earth and move hearts one more time.
Michael Alex
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Good Morning Bob,
I felt the same way yesterday when I found out that Ozzy was dead. Disbelief. I started counting back to how many days ago the concert took place. Unreal.
I got into Ozzy during the No More Tears album as well, then started working my way back, but I was only about 14 at the time. Had the cassette, then traded it in for the CD a couple years later. I still think it's his best album, by a wide margin. Still play it today, and still love it.
I saw him live a few times and always chuckled at how he seemed to use the first 3 songs of the show to warm up his voice, instead of actually spending a few minutes warming up PRIOR to going on stage. As you said, he just didn't care. And we always got a great show anyway.
RIP Prince of Darkness
Tim W
in Calgary
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Correct again, Bob! Let's be honest: if you say you love Ozzy Osbourne but don't know No More Tears — the album — you don't know Ozzy. This wasn't just a comeback. This was a full-blown resurrection, with Zakk Wylde summoning some kind of holy fire and Ozzy delivering the greatest music of his life. Every track is a monster. A 10 out of 10. A god-tier, A+ rock record. If Blizzard Of Ozz made him a solo star, No More Tears made him eternal. Black Sabbath was the blueprint — perhaps they "invented" heavy metal, and sure, the cool kids say they listen to Sabbath, but come on. Most people don't. They were always the outsiders. But this. This is THE album. "I Don't Want To Change The World," "Desire," "Mr. Tinkertrain," "Hellraiser," "Road To Nowhere," and of course that absolutely iconic title track — with its bassline and guitar solos that could level buildings. And then Ozzy at his tenderest on "Time After Time" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home." This is Ozzy at full power, fully himself, and totally unbothered by the rules. The last gasp of MTV-era hard rock before grunge took over. It's dangerous. It's beautiful. It's unforgettable. Ozzy Osbourne lived louder and longer than anyone ever expected, and No More Tears is the crown jewel. If you've never heard it front to back, tonight's the night. RIP to the Prince Of Darkness. Loved by so many, matched by none.
Josh Valentine
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Thank you Bob. Recall seeing Black Sabbath when they co-headlined with Blue Oyster Cult—the Black and Blue tour. Then saw Ozzy with the electrifying Randy Rhoads for Diary of a Madman which was exhilarating. Both concerts contributed to a personal musical narrative that last today. My ears went a different direction since but there was a yearning to fly for the final show which wasn't possible so attended in spirit and through the many videos. To think back now on how thrilled he must have been planning and leading up and the short time that followed, and what might have been had the timing been different, it's unfathomably poetic and beautifully touching…huzzah to his last hurrah.
Steve Traxler
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I grew up during Ozzy's solo career. Never got into Sabbath, but loved Ozzy's solo music. Unlike country music, hard rock is splintered into many sub genres which unfortunately tend to compete with each other. One thing everyone seemed to agree on was Ozzy. His personality, his legend and more importantly his music transcended all of it.
I was oddly at a water park yesterday, enjoying a vacation day with my son when the alert came across my phone. Amid all the chaos of an amusement park, everything went silent as I took in the reality. I loved Ozzy, but as a teen I gravitated toward other musicians as my idols. Yet, for a few minutes I was caught off guard by the news. Even more strange, two weeks ago during the farewell concert I said to my wife, "It's almost like the family knows he's going to die soon, beyond what the public knows." And, if we're being honest, Ozzy's lifestyle should have killed him decades ago. Living this long might be his greatest accomplishment.
His music will indeed live. As many of these legacy acts from the 70's and 80's have aged to the point that people are criticizing their performances and use of backing tracks I keep saying the same thing, "Once these guys are gone, they're gone." And maybe that's part of the reason his death weighs so heavy. It's a sign that the end is near for a ton of talent that we've all enjoyed and quite honestly, taken for granted.
Neil Johnson
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While anyone who saw Ozzy in recent years could readily see that he wasn't well, I nonetheless never conceived of a world that didn't include him. I first saw him live in April 1986 at New Haven Coliseum, on his Ultimate Sin tour, with Metallica opening in support of Master of Puppets. For a 13-year-old metalhead, that show was pure, unforgettable euphoria. That 13-year-old looked up to a very select and sacred few—Ozzy, Lemmy and Ronnie—as the pantheon of the world of metal, who seemed like they would forever be there. With Ozzy's passing yesterday, the world lost a musical—and more importantly a cultural and human—legend, and we lost the final god from that pantheon, leaving a music world that's now strangely unrecognizable to so many of us.
With all of the ickiness in the world, I dearly hope that those who are now the elder statespeople of metal will recognize the opportunity that Ozzy's passing has presented to pick up the mantle, in honor of that great man, and lead us forward. The metal genre has long been crucially and beautifully important to such a wonderful community among us, and these times, perhaps more than ever, call for metal to provide what it has long provided, which is a safe sanctuary that feeds the soul.
If there's an afterlife, I have to believe that Ozzy is now performing with Randy Rhoads, Randy Castillo (his drummer on that Ultimate Sin album and tour) and countless other souls whose lives were blessed by what Ozzy gave to the world.
Rest in well-deserved peace, Ozzy. You'll be sorely missed.
Michael Rexford
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We all come to the music in our own way, via our own entry point. Once you connect, you CONNECT, and that's that. In the fall of 1982, I actually asked my jazz-loving audiophile grandfather to take me to one of the record stores in the Baltimore area (probably the one in the Towson mall at the time) to buy Diary of a Madman on vinyl since I already had and loved Blizzard of Ozz — and he trusted my passion for the music and how I was able to articulate it to him to let me do so. I've never forgotten that.
Many years later, when I had the honor of sitting down with Ozzy in person at Sony's then-HQ in New York City a decade-and-a-half ago on May 20, 2010, he told me the secret to his and Sabbath's success: "The Beatles gave me the gift of melody, you know. You'll hear The Beatles in a lot of other things of mine. They had great harmonies, great melodies. I've met McCartney a few times, and he's a f*cking great guy. I have such great respect."
Ozzy also freely admitted to me that (and you may have heard him say this first part before, but still!), "I wanted to be in The Beatles, and I always got a great feeling listening to them." Then he added the kicker: "I can remember walking around the streets of Birmingham, proud, with a Beatles record sleeve under my arm. I bought those Beatles boots, and one of those cheap wigs [laughs]. It wasn't even hair — it was a plastic f*cking cap. I had it all, man."
You sure as f*ck did, John Michael.
Mike Mettler
Editor, Analog Planet
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"Isn't this f*cking great?!" - Everything. Right there.
And, for the record, in England '69-'70…'Paranoid', 'Deep Purple In Rock', and LZII were all on the same level in our heads and hearts. It was all "heavy metal" to we 14 year-olds…and it was f*cking fantastic.
Hugo Burnhan
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So sorry for you that you didn't get it back in the day. Big miss.
Mid-70s Sabbath was unbelievable! Nothing else like it. So powerful. So weird. Hard charging and spooky at the same time!
Plus, Tony Iommi paying with fake fingers and Ozzy being this tortured soul out of a Vincent Price movie, and the bass player (and chief writer) was named GEEZER! In the US we didn't know that nickname. It just sounded wicked and fun.
Ah man. Sabbath…the best. We silk-screened our own T-shirts with the logo from Master of Reality in art class.
All hail Ozzy. What a possessed soul and one-in-a-million talent.
Love to his family.
Paul Gigante
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Like you Bob I was no big Ozzy fan until No More Tears. Zakk was brilliant but the song arrangement and production was almost George Martin-like.
A year later Steve Miller took four years off (and it wasn't because of the weather!) and I found myself working at GC Hollywood in Artist Relations and helping Dave Weiderman do the Rock Walk inductions.
We inducted Randy Rhodes posthumously and Sharon and Ozzy were there with Zakk.
We snacked on Swedish meatballs and shot the sh*t. Nice people. Ozzy was a perfect gentleman. Of course he adored Randy and was on best behavior.
He is gone now but there will always be No More Tears playing on space stations along with The Joker in the near future.
RIP the harbinger of bohemian Goth Metal and new paradigm creator, Ozzy.
Kenny Lee Lewis
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When my son entered middle school in 2017, the curriculum required that he either join the chorus, or learn an instrument. He couldn't decide, so we picked clarinet for him. I watched as he learned how to read music, and play simple songs, like "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
At the parent-teacher conference, I ask the music teacher how he's doing. She tells me that while everyone else is whetting their reeds and warming up, he's playing the riff from "Iron Man", a record we don't own.
When I get home, I ask how he knows this song. He tells me that it's in one of his video games. I tell him that his uncle is really into Sabbath, so he takes out clarinet and plays the riff over the phone for him. Uncle cracks up.
Stuart Taubel
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Great read. Thank you for sharing.
He meant so much to so many music fans.
I'm still buzzing from attending the last show in Birmingham. Tickets went onsale at around 10am England time, so around 2am my time. My alarm went off and I lay in bed, fumbling with my phone in the dark, blurry eyed, frantically tapping around the Ticketmaster app until I had a pair of tickets in my cart. Couldn't believe it.
So my buddy and I booked flights from the States to London and train tickets to Birmingham. Having never been across the pond, it was a leap of faith, but I felt I had to make it there one way or another.
Arriving in Birmingham was such a wild feeling. There was so much joy in the city as we were surrounded by thousands of other metal heads. The city fully embraced all of us. They handed out free tri-folds at the train center listing all of the historic Black Sabbath attractions to visit while we were in town!
The show itself was, and I don't say this lightly, the single greatest live music event I have ever attended. And I've been to a lot. Tom Morello crushed it, gathering all the acts and coordinating who played what with who and when.
The production team was also awesome. They had a rotating stage, so there were only about 10min between each band. It was all super smooth. If you went to the bathroom or to get a beer, you missed something epic. (It was the beer line that made me miss Steven Tyler's first two songs!) It was 10hrs of incredible metal bands honoring the originators.
And seeing Ozzy, you could tell he was overjoyed to be back on stage. We all wept during 'Mama, I'm Coming Home'. So many emotions. You could feel that we all knew the end was near. (I had no idea it would be THIS near.) But there we all were. Together. Singing our collective hearts out. Celebrating all that he has given us.
I'm so grateful I didn't sleep through that alarm.
Adam L
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Long live The Prince of Darkness!!
I only got to see him live once about 8 years ago but he was amazing. Still jumping all over the stage like a maniac. I'm glad I got to be in the same room as him, even if it was only once. How lucky are we to have existed at the same time as Ozzy f*ckin' Osbourne right?!?!
I got to spend a couple days with Sharon back when she was on the celebrity apprentice. They used the studio I worked at to make radio jingles for one of their "challenges" and I was the engineer that worked with her team. She was a sweetheart and she told some really amazing stories about Ozzy in the downtime and I'm so lucky to have been privy to that.
Ozzy will leave a massive void in this world but his legacy will live on forever and we're all better off because of his music.
Beautiful tribute Bob!
Rob DiFondi
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I was a young product manager for Epic in Finland when No More Tears landed in September 1991.
Grunge was about to sweep in like wildfire, making much of 80s metal sound ridiculous almost overnight. But Ozzy? He was untouchable.
This became his biggest solo album—and for good reason. Behind the production were incredible pop sensibilities, yet Ozzy was never syrupy or pretentious. He could sing the sweetest melody (Mama, I'm Coming Home) and still sound authentic. His voice carried rawness, honesty and vulnerability that connected across genres and eras.
Best regards,
Aku Valta,
Sydney, Australia
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His duet with Lita Ford, Close My Eyes Forever, was insanely awesome. Haunting and beautiful. When he comes in you get chills. This was the power of the Prince of Darkness. Now his eyes are closed forever. RIP. Onward!
Etan G
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Iron Man was the first song that I recorded on my "Easy Listening" 8-track tape recorder for my car.
Memories......
Thank you fir sharing yours, Bob....
Marshall
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On Zep and Sabbath in the early 70s:
We loved 'em both with all our hearts, but crucially for our teen rock band in '72, 'Paranoid' was a lot easier (on the face of it at least) to play than 'Black Dog' and literally EVERY young band covered it.
It was very easy to understand - and capture - the ESSENCE, even as a distinctly average 14 year old guitarist.
And that playability should not be underestimated.
Long live Rock 'n Roll!
Simon Toulson-Clarke
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You've always been more of a lyrics/words guy when it comes to music it seems, and I love that you have an appreciation for Ozzy and it kind of seems for Black Sabbath as well, although not as much, but I hope you realize that Ozzy very rarely wrote any of his lyrics, especially in Sabbath, and his vocal melodies often just followed the melodic lines of the guitar.
He was blessed to work with many great musicians in his career but there was absolutely nothing like the power and genius of the original Black Sabbath. Incredibly talented musicians... Bill Ward with some amazing jazz chops and fills, Geezer playing truly incredible baselines and writing most of the lyrics, and then there is the mountain moving thunder and absolute genius of Tony Iommi. I've seen Sabbath multiple times over the years and never in my life have I heard a guitar sound like he is able to achieve. Truly nothing else like it. And aside from being a genius when it comes to riffs, songwriting and arrangement, he is a truly underrated lead player as well.
A very sad day to lose a legend like Ozzy, but so many of us musicians will be absolutely devastated and even more heartbroken when we lose Tony, Geezer, or Bill. Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter.... I have loved your writing for many years Bob, and especially on politics and modern society. Take care and thank you for what you do....
David Resch
working musician/ guitarist
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You are going to get a zillion responses to this however I have to add two quick stories:
1) In the 80's I waited two hours outside the backstage door as a teen and he stumbled out and I caught his eye holding up an album and a marker and I politely asked him to sign it and ha said "OH I'll sign the whole f*cking cover and ruin it" Still have it
2) Years later negotiating with Sharon to have a band on OZZFEST and we were going back and forth for a bit and I hear this voice in the background that we are all familiar with now "SHARON!! IT'S ON 2k quid. BOOK IT.
LOL
He was my John Lennon
Alan Stewart
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This iconic figure remains unforgettable for his daring spirit — he bit the head off of a live bat on stage. I had the incredible honor of inviting Ozzy to the first anniversary celebration of Pirate Radio in LA in 1990. In 1996, I connected with his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, to capture the electrifying energy of his concert in Lubbock, Texas. Although we faced challenges with the initial footage due to Ozzy's "enthusiastic" antics and "difficult" acoustics, Sharon's "generosity" in providing an alternative recording from Jones Beach, New York, allowed us to share the magic of that unforgettable show on PBS On Tour. Rest in peace Ozzy, the Crazy Train has come to the end of the line. Yup, I had a hand in putting Ozzy on PBS!
Rob Tonkin
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Not gonna lie, I got a little choked up hearing about your nephew. It's those little moments of connection that you remember all your life, and glad you got to be the first to rock out with him!
I moonlight fairly often as a substitute guitar teacher, gotta put that Berklee degree to work somehow (??) and I'm continually amazed at what the kids bring in to learn.
Just last week an 11-yr old came in with a kickass pointy axe (the kind I started on, and then would ridicule later on in life, and now am collecting) and busted out Crazy Train, and we spent a whole lesson helping him tune it up and play it a little cleaner. I asked him how he knew it, did his dad or mom play it for him. Nope. Tiktok.
His parents laugh that somehow they have a budding young metal-head, and they are tickled about it, but he didn't get it from them!
Good enough for me, later today we'll be working on the slow harmony solo section of Master Of Puppets! Or maybe we'll do a little more Ozzy for our own little tribute.
Rock on Bob!
Dan Millen
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Listen to what he did with Bryan Adams' producer Jim Vallance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep-mfhrIro
This is the demo that blows the final version (done by Moby) out of the water. Even Mike Judge knew it and used this version in the first Beavis and Butthead movie.
Here are Ozzy's comments from the box set liner notes:
"This is another great song where I actually preferred the demo. I hated the version that I recorded with Moby. So did the Beavis and Butthead people. Although the Moby-produced track is on the "Beavis and Butthead Do America" soundtrack album, this version (the demo) is the one heard in the movie".
Listen to his vocals. Listen to the harmonies. All instrument played by Jim.
Just bad ass.
Track sheet from the session here:
http://www.jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-osbourne-ozzy-walk.html
Not supposed to tell people, but the artist I worked with did an AA meeting with Ozzy at the old Key Club on Sunset. A the time everyone though Ozzy was helpless old fool on the Osbourne show. Naw man. Sharp and walked normal.
Just like Vallance states in this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2K7sUJVawc&t=975s
Should start at 11:19
where he talks about how intelligent he was.
More at 16:15
Ozzy was just a great guy to be around.
You really got to publish this.. people need to know this side of him.
wam
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I was on my way into work for my afternoon shift when I got a text from my 14-year-old son. I was shocked. At first it said "Izzy died" and I was stunned. I've always been a massive Izzy Stradlin fan and enjoy all his post Guns N' Roses solo catalog even though it's never gotten traction in the mainstream whatsoever beyond his first solo outing with the Juju Hounds(And don't get me started calling the current Guns N' Roses a reunion when Izzy's not there!)
Well, it turns out with the I and the O next to each other on a keypad he realized he misspelled it and immediately followed up with "Ozzy died". Now I wasn't shocked, I was sad and wistful. At least he got to say goodbye in a massive way only three weeks earlier.
I'm like you, in that as a young kid and a teenager in the late 80s & entering the 90s, I was aware of Ozzy and some of his songs, but didn't consider myself more than a passing casual fan. Never bought any of his albums, but if one of his songs came on the radio, I wouldn't turn it off and actually crank it up.
Then I heard the song, No More Tears as an 16 year old just learning to play guitar and just as you described, between that ominous bass and those guitars(MY GOD THAT GUITAR TONE! As heavy as Metallica, but yet more tuneful!) along with Ozzy's voice, I knew I needed to buy the record!
Right from the first song I was hooked. Mr. Tinkertrain was no hard rock or metal romp. It was as serious as a heart attack! And then one song after another, it just never seemed to stop! Each song was amazing in its own right. Not a bad or weak song on the entire album. Any other band or solo act would kill for two songs of that level of quality and flesh out some filler on an album, three or four maybe if they were really lucky. But here is Ozzy, some would argue mid to late stage of his career, seemingly on a downward slope, and he just blows the barn doors open and releases one of the greatest albums in hard rock and heavy metal!
And I'll agree with you, all his subsequent releases were never as great as No More Tears, but they were fantastic and I'd argue far more consistent on the back half of his career(maybe not Scream. I still just can't dig that album), than his solo catalog before No More Tears, save of course, for his debut Blizzard of Ozz.
Ozzy was one of a kind and I'm just lucky to have been alive when one of the greats, who will be discussed and dissected for decades to come because of his musical and cultural impact!
Rest in peace John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne.
Michael Moniz
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Bob!
Ozzy Osbourne, a Legend, and a Gentleman
It is a privilege to be one of the few record producers who have had the chance to write and produce with the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. Working on his 2001 album Down to Earth was an incredible opportunity, not just because of his iconic status, but also because of the man I discovered BEHIND his "Prince of Darkness" persona.
When you meet Ozzy, you quickly realize he's far from the dark, menacing figure the media often portrayed him. Instead, you find a kind, fun loving, and genuine gentleman..a Dad and friend with a wicked sense of humor. As we worked together, I felt a responsibility to protect this side of him, as the public still saw him through the lens of a dark lord. That all changed when The Osbournesreality show hit TV screens shortly after we finished the album. Suddenly, the world saw what I had witnessed in the studio, which was a warm, relatable guy who happened to be one of rocks most iconic vocalists
Being fellow Brits, Ozzy and I bonded over a shared love for classic English TV humour, Monty Python, Benny Hill, and Tommy Cooper were frequent topics of discussion.
One story that still makes me laugh…A friend from England called me, amazed by a news report claiming Ozzy was passionate about gardening that he had floodlights installed to tend his garden at night. 'Gardening ! I asked Ozz about it and he laughed and confessed it wasn't about gardening at all. Sharon, his wife, was trying to get him to cut back on the booze, so Ozzy had buried bottles of vodka around his garden. Under the guise of "gardening" at night, he'd dig around hunting for his hidden stash.
In the studio, Ozzy's ability as a vocalist was clear. His voice is one of the most instantly recognizable in rock history, and that really sets him apart to be honest. At his request, we triple-tracked his voice, and watching it come together was magical. After the second track, it sounded great, but it was the third layer that brought the magic. The subtle chorusing between the takes created that unmistakable Ozzy sound that fans know and love.
Getting Ozzy back into the studio for Down to Earth wasn't easy as he was initially hesitant about making another album. After quite a bit of coaxing I got him back in the studio and tried to make it as fun as possible. On that album he sung for the first time in the control room (or so he told me) It really seemed to take the pressure from him and make the whole experience more easygoing.
One of my favs that we recorded was "Dreamer," a song written by Mick Jones of Foreigner and Marty Frederiksen. Ozzy wanted it to be his personal tribute to John Lennon's Imagine. As a lifelong Beatles fan, Ozzy poured his heart into it and it was a departure from his usual heavy rock sound. I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out, I even got to sing backing vocals on it..and it's now Ozzy's most-played solo song on YouTube at 126 million views.
Working with Ozzy was a joy and a laugh, he was talented and also generous. I know, hundreds of stories of songwriters that are ripped off by the main artist if their song gets covered. When I finished the songs that I had written with Ozz, he was adamant that it would be a 50-50 split. I think that's rare and is also a reflection of his fairness ..
As I look back, I am grateful.
Good night, Ozzy. Thank you for the music, the memories, and the laughter. Godspeed Ozzy Osbourne.
Cheers,
Tim Palmer
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