Legendary musician Ozzy Osbourne has died at 76

It was a remarkable event for fans of heavy music, but even before the news of Ozzy's passing, it did have the feeling of a sendoff. His health had been poor for quite some time. In 2020, he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. In 2023, he said he was done touring owing to a spinal injury he suffered in 2018. Plus, he was Ozzy Osbourne. It was not uncommon for him to remark that he was surprised to be alive after all the alcohol and drugs he had done, and there are plenty of stories of his drunken actions that are decidedly not fun. When you are biting the heads off bats, you probably aren't picturing yourself alive in your eighties.

Ozzy was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. He was the namesake for the heavy metal festival Ozzfest. Additionally, and unexpectedly, he was at the forefront of the rise of reality tv shows about famous people. "The Osbournes" was a true cultural phenomenon when it aired on MTV. It gave Sharon, Kelly, and Jack careers. Ozzy was essentially memed before memes were even a prominent part of internet culture. Of course, he was a punchline, but he seemed in on the joke. And if he wasn't, well, the logic went that this was the price he was paying for his rock-and-roll lifestyle.

Cultural figures of Ozzy's ilk are rare. He is not just on the Mount Rushmore of heavy metal, but is the patron saint of metal. Maybe that's a bit weird for a guy nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness," but it was also weird that he was on an MTV reality show. Strange things and Ozzy will forever go hand-in-hand.

(h/t Variety)