Today (July 22), the music world lost a legend when Ozzy Osbourne died after a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. According to a statement from his family, Osbourne died this morning.
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Fans around the world knew that Osbourne was taking the stage for the final time during Back to the Beginning earlier this month. However, he and the other members of Black Sabbath had discussed the possibility of recording a new album. All hopes of one more record from the band’s iconic original lineup died with the Prince of Darkness this morning.
[RELATED: 4 of the Best Songs From Black Sabbath’s Iconic Original Lineup]
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” his family shared in a statement. “He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
Ozzy Osbourne Was a Heavy Metal Icon
Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne likely didn’t know they’d change the music world when they formed Black Sabbath in 1968. They took the blues-rock style of many bands of the late 1960s, slowed the tempos, tuned the guitars down, and injected dark themes into the lyrics. As a result, they planted a seed that would later grow into heavy metal. Today, many subgenres, including doom metal, sludge metal, and stoner metal, build upon the sound Sabbath laid down with their first three albums.
All good things must come to an end, though. Tensions within the band, coupled with Osbourne’s substance abuse issues, led the other members of Sabbath to give him the boot in 1979. Never one to give up, he embarked on a solo career.
The year after being fired from Black Sabbath, Osbourne released his debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz. It was the first of many commercially successful releases. Over the next four decades, he released 13 studio albums. His final LP, Patient Number 9, dropped in 2022.
Osbourne reunited with Iommi and Butler in 2013 to record Black Sabbath’s 13 with Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk on drums. The band had floated the idea of recording one more album with the original lineup after the massive success of their reunion concert, Back to the Beginning.
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