John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (3 December 1948 – 22 July 2025) was an English singer, songwriter and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness".[4]
In late 1967, Geezer Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with Osbourne. The band played two shows, then broke up. Osbourne and Butler reunited in Polka Tulk Blues, along with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, whose band Mythology had recently broken up. They renamed themselves Earth, but after being accidentally booked for a show instead of a different band with the same name, they decided to change their name again. They finally settled on the name Black Sabbath in August 1969, based on the film of the same name.[9] The band had noticed how people enjoyed being frightened; inspired, the band decided to play a heavy blues style of music laced with gloomy sounds and lyrics.[9] While recording their first album in a castle, Butler read an occult book and woke up to a dark figure at the end of his bed.[citation needed] Butler told Osbourne about it and together they wrote the lyrics to “Black Sabbath”, their first song in a darker vein.[10]
After leaving Black Sabbath, Osbourne was signed to Don Arden's Jet Records. Arden dispatched his daughter Sharon to Los Angeles to “look after Ozzy’s needs, whatever they were”, as a means of protecting his investment.[33] Initially, Arden was hopeful that Osbourne would return to Black Sabbath, and he later attempted to convince the singer to name his new band “Son of Sabbath”, which Osbourne hated.[6] Sharon attempted to convince Osbourne to form a new supergroup with guitarist Gary Moore.[6] In 1980, under the management of the Ardens, the Ozzy Osbourne Band formed again as The Blizzard of Ozz. The first line-up of the band featured drummer Lee Kerslake (of Uriah Heep), bassist / lyricist Bob Daisley (of Rainbow and later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey, and guitarist Randy Rhoads (of Quiet Riot). The record company would eventually title the recordBlizzard of Ozz credited simply under Osbourne’s name. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, the album brought Osbourne considerable success on his first solo effort. The album sold very well with hard rock/heavy metal fans.[9] Though it is generally accepted that Osbourne and Rhoads started the band, bassist Daisley later claimed that he and Osbourne formed the band in England before Rhoads officially joined.[34] Osbourne has maintained that his original choice for bassist was Dana Strum, and that it was Strum who arranged Rhoads’ audition. Blizzard of Ozz is one of the very few albums amongst the 100 best selling albums of the 1980s to have achieved multi-platinum status without the benefit of a Top 40 single. As of August 1997, it achieved Quadruple Platinum status according to RIAA.
