(CelebrityAccess) — Ozzy Osbourne, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer who, as a member of the band Black Sabbath helped to pioneer the heavy metal sound, died on July 22. He was 76.
His family announced the rock legend’s passing in a statement to the CelebrityAccess:
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
A cause of death was not disclosed. Osbourne had revealed in 2020 that he was battling Parkinson’s disease, and he also suffered from emphysema after years of smoking.
His death comes just weeks after rock royalty gathered in his hometown of Birmingham, England, for an all-star tribute concert that reunited Osbourne with his former Black Sabbath bandmates: Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward.
Born in Birmingham in 1948, Osbourne left school at age 15 and worked a series of blue-collar jobs before joining Geezer Butler’s band Rare Breed in 1967. After several lineup and name changes, the group reemerged as Black Sabbath and signed with Warner Records, going on to become one of the most influential acts in rock history.
Following the success of the band’s self-titled debut album in 1970, Osbourne met Sharon Arden, his future wife and longtime manager. The couple married in 1982 and raised three children together: Aimee, Kelly, and Jack.
Osbourne remained with Black Sabbath through the 1970s, during which the band enjoyed massive commercial success, but he left in 1979 amid creative differences and personal struggles. He launched a solo career that brought renewed acclaim and commercial success — along with high-profile battles with drug and alcohol addiction.
In the 1990s, Osbourne co-founded Ozzfest, a touring heavy metal festival that helped launch the careers of rising metal acts such as Slipknot, System of a Down, and Disturbed. Ozzfest debuted in 1996 and ran continuously through 2008, with occasional revivals afterward.
Osbourne also became a television personality during the reality TV boom of the early 2000s. In partnership with MTV, he starred in The Osbournes, a wildly popular reality series that chronicled the day-to-day chaos of his family life. The show ran for 52 episodes and helped redefine his public image for a new generation.
In the 2010s, Osbourne returned his focus to music, launching several major tours, including the Scream World Tour, Ozzy & Friends Tour, and No More Tours II. However, declining health forced him to cancel multiple performances, including the European leg of No More Tours II in 2019, after he was hospitalized with a severe respiratory infection. In the years that followed, complications from Parkinson’s disease and emphysema left him unable to walk unassisted.
Over the course of his five-decade career, Osbourne received numerous accolades. He won a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best Metal Performance for “I Don’t Want to Change the World,” from his live album Live & Loud. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of Black Sabbath and again in 2024 as a solo artist.
Other honors include the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 2015, and the Living Legend Award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards in 2008.
