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“Mama, I’m Coming Home” Ozzy Osbourne, Dead at 76

On July 22, 2025, the world lost John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne, the gravel-voiced madman who turned heavy metal into a cultural force. He was 76. His family confirmed his passing on X, noting he died in Los Angeles, surrounded by loved ones, just weeks after a triumphant final performance with Black Sabbath in their hometown of Birmingham, England, on July 5, per concert organizers. No official cause of death was shared, but Osbourne’s battle with Parkinson’s disease, diagnosed in 2003, and lingering injuries from a 2003 ATV accident had slowed the once-indomitable showman in recent years.

Ozzy was never just a singer—he was a myth in leather and eyeliner. Born in 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, a working-class crucible of post-war England, he found his voice with Black Sabbath, the band that forged heavy metal from the industrial clang of their city. With Tony Iommi’s earth-shaking riffs, Geezer Butler’s apocalyptic lyrics, and Bill Ward’s thunderous drums, Sabbath’s 1970 self-titled debut was a Molotov cocktail lobbed at the flower-power era. Songs like “Paranoid” and “Iron Man” didn’t just define a genre—they rewrote what music could say about darkness, fear, and rebellion. Ozzy’s wail, raw and unpolished, was the human cry at the heart of it.

Fired from Sabbath in 1979 amid a haze of addiction, Osbourne could’ve faded into obscurity. Instead, he reinvented himself as a solo artist, proving his grit. With guitarist Randy Rhoads, he crafted Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981), albums that blended melody with menace on tracks like “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley.” Rhoads’ death in a 1982 plane crash gutted Osbourne, but he kept going, churning out hits like “Bark at the Moon” and “No More Tears” with virtuosos like Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. He sold over 100 million albums, won Grammys, and earned a solo spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside his 2006 induction with Sabbath.

Osbourne’s life was a circus of chaos and charm. He bit the head off a bat (by accident, he swore), survived countless overdoses, and became an unlikely reality TV star on The Osbournes (2002–2005), which revealed the Prince of Darkness as a bumbling, lovable dad. His marriage to Sharon Osbourne, his manager and anchor, was a rock ’n’ roll love story for the ages, weathering infidelity, addiction, and public scrutiny. “Sharon’s my soul,” he told Rolling Stone in a 2010 interview. He is survived by her and their children, Aimee, Kelly, and Jack, as well as his children Louis and Jessica from his first marriage.

His final years were marked by defiance. Despite Parkinson’s and spinal surgeries, he took the stage, his voice weathered but unbroken. That last Birmingham show, where he howled “War Pigs” to a sea of fists, was a testament to his refusal to bow out quietly. “I’m not going anywhere ’til I’m done,” he growled in a 2023 Rolling Stone interview. Fans on X echoed the sentiment after his passing: “Ozzy didn’t just make music—he was heavy metal,” one wrote.

Osbourne’s legacy—raw, rebellious, and unapologetic—lives on in the chords that shake the earth. Through decades of chaos, he raised millions for causes like Parkinson’s research, a fight he joined after his own diagnosis. “All my life, I’ve been knocking on death’s door,” he sang in “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” Now, the Prince of Darkness is home, and rock ’n’ roll will never be the same.

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