Ozzy Osbourne

Fired from Black Sabbath in 1979, John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne rebuilt his career almost immediately, launching a solo run that would ultimately outlast and, commercially, rival the band that made him famous. Guided from the outset by Sharon Arden — later his manager and wife — he assembled a new band around a young Californian guitarist named Randy Rhoads. Rhoads' classically informed, precise playing gave Osbourne's music a fresh identity, and the two albums they made together, Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981), became cornerstones of heavy metal, producing "Crazy Train", "Mr. Crowley" and "Over the Mountain". The partnership ended abruptly on 19 March 1982, when Rhoads was killed in a small-plane crash in Leesburg, Florida, at 25. Osbourne never fully stopped mourning him, and Rhoads' death shaped the rest of his career. What followed was a lineage of guitarists who each redefined the sound. Jake E. Lee brought a sleeker, harder edge on Bark at the Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986). Zakk Wylde arrived in 1987 and became the longest-serving of them, his thick pinch-harmonic tone anchoring No Rest for the Wicked (1988), the multi-platinum No More Tears (1991) — home to "Mama, I'm Coming Home" — Ozzmosis (1995) and Black Rain (2007). Joe Holmes served in the interim years, and Greek guitarist Gus G took over from 2009, playing on Scream (2010). Beyond the records, Osbourne became an institution. In 1996 he and Sharon created Ozzfest, the touring festival that ran for years as metal's most important summer package and launched or elevated bands including Slipknot, System of a Down and Disturbed. Then, in 2002, MTV's reality series The Osbournes turned him into an unlikely mainstream television star: profane, bewildered and oddly endearing, a domestic figure as recognizable to viewers who owned none of his albums as to lifelong fans. Health problems mounted in later life. A 2003 quad-bike accident, spinal injuries from a 2019 fall, and a Parkinson's diagnosis he revealed publicly in January 2020 curtailed his touring, though he continued recording, working with producer Andrew Watt on Ordinary Man (2020) and the Grammy-winning Patient Number 9 (2022). In 2024 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, having entered in 2006 with Black Sabbath. His farewell came on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham, the city of his birth, with the all-day "Back to the Beginning" concert. Seated on a black throne, he performed a short solo set and then reunited with Sabbath's original lineup, before an audience and a bill of bands that included Metallica and Guns N' Roses; proceeds went to Parkinson's and children's charities. He died on 22 July 2025 at his home in Buckinghamshire, aged 76.