Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne dies at 76

Ozzy Osbourne , the legendary lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, died on Tuesday 22 at the age of 76, his family announced in a statement.

The metal star, diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2019, died just two weeks after performing his farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham, England.

"It is with greater sadness than words can express that we inform you that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne passed away this morning," the family's statement said. "He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask that everyone respect our family's privacy at this time."

Nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness," he once bit the head off a bat while on stage, and was a pioneer of heavy metal—a branch of hard rock—with Black Sabbath's huge commercial success in the 1970s.

Ozzy Osbourne performs on August 8, 2022, in Birmingham, England. Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP

The music world paid tribute to him this Tuesday. “He was a dear friend and a great pioneer who secured a place for himself in the pantheon of rock gods — a true legend,” wrote Elton John, who collaborated on the title track of Osbourne’s album Ordinary Man .

"He was also one of the funniest people I've ever met. I'll miss him so much," he added on Instagram.

"It was Ozzy's voice that transported me to a dark universe. A great escape," Pearl Jam's Mike McCready shared on social media.

The group Black Sabbath, in turn, published only two words in English on Instagram: “Ozzy Forever”.

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Ozzy ended a long and eventful career on July 5, when he performed the most emblematic songs of his solo career and gave a final performance with Black Sabbath, with the original lineup, in front of an emotional audience at the Villa Park stadium of the English Premier League football club Aston Villa.

"This is the last song. Your support has allowed us to live an incredible lifestyle [...] I thank you from the bottom of our hearts," Osbourne told the audience after closing the show with "Paranoid," the band's most famous song.

His original bandmates, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward joined the Prince of Darkness for this last concert, called “Back to the Beginning”, which also featured appearances by other important heavy metal groups, such as Metallica, Pantera and Slayer, strongly influenced by the quartet that emerged in the city of Birmingham in 1968.

Black Sabbath's debut album of the same name reached the UK top 10 in 1970 and paved the way for a string of successful albums.

The group has sold over 75 million albums worldwide. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and Ozzy was inducted for the second time last year for his solo career.

Ozzy's public life took a new turn with the reality show The Osbournes in the 2000s, which followed the ups and downs of his family life with his wife Sharon, whom he married in 1982, and two of his children.

Born John Michael Osbourne on December 3, 1948 in Birmingham, he left school at 15 and worked odd jobs, such as in a factory, before joining his schoolmate Butler in various bands, until he found success with Black Sabbath.

His performances at the height of his hedonism became part of rock history, in particular a show in 1982 in Des Moines, in the United States, when he bit the head off a bat on stage.

Ozzy said he believed a fan had thrown a fake rubber bat onto the stage, and that he didn't realize it was real until he took a bite.

“I can assure you that the rabies shots I received afterward were not fun at all,” he told American talk show host David Letterman in 1982.