January 20, 1982, is a day that has gone down in rock infamy. Playing a show in Des Moines, Iowa, Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a real bat on stage. Now, the 73-year-old rocker is using the unforgettable moment from 40 years earlier as inspiration for his non-fungible token (NFT).
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The “Prince of Darkness” will launch “Cryptobatz,” a reference to the on-stage incident at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. The collection of 9,666 unique bats in the form of NFTs will go on sale in mid-January 2022.
“Every cryptobat trait has been creatively directed by Ozzy Osbourne,” read a statement on the Cryptobatz website. “Unlike some of Ozzy’s previous bat friends, these ones live safely in the metaverse and are not edible… yet.”
Osbourne worked on the collection with the NFT studio Sutter Systems, which included a never-before-seen feature that will allow a Cryptobatz to “bite” or mutate with other NFTs in an owner’s digital wallet, creating a “mutant” bat with the same digital DNA of both tokens. CryptoBatz will be able to “bite,” or combine features with Bored Ape Yacht Club, SupDucks, Cryptotoadz, and a fourth unnamed NFT.
“I’ve been trying to get in on the NFT action for a while so when I asked Sharon for a Bored Ape for Christmas after several failed attempts of buying my own, and she said ‘no,’ so I decided to create my own,” said Osbourne on talking to his wife Sharon Osbourne about entering the NFT market.
More artists are entering the world of NFTs, which reached $23 billion in sales in 2021, alone, according to a report by DappRadar.
“CryptoBatz is a fucking mental project for NFT collectors and fans,” said Osbourne. “The design pays tribute to one of my most iconic on-stage moments and is a chance to acquire a rare piece of art history. I love it.”
Photo: Nitin Vadukul
