Ozzy Osbourne, the singular metal legend whose Black Sabbath virtually invented heavy metal and in later years became a reality TV pioneer, has died at the age of 76. More on his life and legacy 🖤 https://t.co/WNp5Npnexc pic.twitter.com/HN2qD58Fve— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) July 22, 2025
Rest in peace to an absolute icon. For me personally, Ozzy really got me into rock and metal. I will never forget in middle school hearing Crazy Train for the first time on a friend's walkman. That led me to Black Sabbath, then Zeppelin, Hendrix, Metallica, and on and on. Huge loss for music today. Tributes from all around already rolling in from everywhere.
Great to see him and Sabbath perform one last time just a few weeks ago. I'm sure no one thought this day would come so soon after. Rest easy, Oz.
💔 pic.twitter.com/ojOksUPkKi— Metallica (@Metallica) July 22, 2025
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RIP Prince of Darkness. You will be missed.
RIP. The greatest metal front man ever. Had the privilege to see him live several times.
Ozzy got to do what he loved at least once last time. RIP.
RIP Ozzy. Mama, he's coming home
closed his eyes forever
RIP to one of the realest ones. Hendrix and Zeppelin were my entrees to the genre, but I have also always liked Sabbath and Ozzy too. I'm glad he got a chance to bid us all goodbye. See you on the other side, Prince.
What timing on that last show. Also glad he was inducted into the HOF while he was still alive.
Twice, once with Black Sabbath and once solo.
I am of the generation that knows Ozzy better from the TV show than his music. I remember when my parents told me he was a lead singer of a band and I was like "that guy sings? he can barely talk." Drugs are bad. RIP dude.
and after a point, he sang much better than he talked
I flipped on the show once to see what it was about. Could hardly believe how much he shuffled, slumped, and slurred. Then they showed a clip of him going to a concert. It was a completely different person. He really got up for his shows and put everything he had left into them.
Speyer, Germany, way back in '71 or '72 when I was in the army. The evening's music was rained on heavily, and everybody was in their tents and the lights were out. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the opening chords boomed out impossibly loud and then "I am Iron Man" began. It was like a call to the zombies as we all woke up and headed for the stage in various stages of waking and clothing. Wow, what a night to top off the best outdoor concert of my life. There were tons of stars and stars to be that weekend, but the only actual memory of the music was Black Sabbath, though not my fave rave, definitely the most memorable.
Been racking my brain about this, and I think that Black Sabbath's Live Evil (post-Ozzy, I know, but relevant) was the first cassette tape I bought after getting a stereo system with a cassette player for my birthday in December 1982. I remember the setting, it was at Turtle's Records and Tapes, and I saw the cover art under the glass counter, and decided I wanted that one. Black Sabbath never really stuck with me, but for a few songs, but I remember hearing Crazy Train for the first time later, off a friend's boombox, and was intrigued by how they bounced the audio back and forth between the left and right speakers. I'd have to say that Ozzy's solo work was my initial inspiration for my love of hard rock and metal.
To our parents, Ozzy Osbourne was the epitome of everything that was wrong with then-contemporary music, but to a Gen X kid, Ozzy just rocked. Hard. He was the Prince of Darkness. The Godfather of Metal. And regardless of what you felt about him personally, or his antics on stage (whether real or just rumored), his music was just badass.
RIP, John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne. You'll be missed, but your legacy will live on.
Throw arrows at me now, but IMO I saw his BEST band in Roanoke- the no more tears band- Randy Castillo, Zak Wylde, Mike Inez... that band was his best IMO. Yes Randy Rhodes and Geezer Butler make a case, but. Either way fortunate to see Ozzy several times live.
My first concert was me and three or four buddies in high school going to see Drain STH, Godsmack, and Black Sabbath at the Va Beach Amphitheater back in the late 90s. Remained a fan ever since