Ozzy Osbourne bio, children, age, net worth, health, young, band 2025

Ozzy Osbourne Biography

Ozzy Osbourne (real name John Michael Osbourne) is a legendary rock musician who shot to fame in the 1970s as the founding frontman of heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath. He is a Grammy recipient, an Ivor Novello Award winner, and has received MTV EMA, NME, and Classic Rock awards in the Global Icon, Godlike Genius, and Living Legend categories respectively.

Over a career spanning more than five decades as both a solo artist and frontman, he's earned massive popularity and the unofficial title "Godfather of Heavy Metal." He has sold tens of millions of records and performed in thousands of shows.

As a solo artist and a member of Black Sabbath, he is inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the USA (along with bandmates Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward).

But the "great and terrible" Ozzy remains one of rock's most controversial figures. Critics argue he made rock history less as a musical genius than as a wild card - an utterly unpredictable "Prince of Darkness" who'd bite the heads off bats or doves on stage.

Childhood and Youth

The future rock legend grew up in Birmingham, England's second-largest city. His father John Thomas worked nights as a toolmaker at the General Electric factory, while his mother Lillian (née Unitt) worked the day shift at the same plant.

The family was poor with many mouths to feed. The boy had three older sisters and two younger brothers. Their home was often the scene of scandals due to the father's addiction to alcohol. But music brought the family together - the kids would learn Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry songs to stage their own home concerts. It was at one of these family concerts that Ozzy first performed, singing Cliff Richard's hit 'Living Doll'. After this, he dreamt of forming his own band.

School proved tough for Osbourne because of his dyslexia. He was constantly bullied and dismissed as a 'complete fool' because of his garbled speech. The only subject he did well in was metalwork. As John revealed in his New York Times bestselling memoir 'I Am Ozzy,' his father had passed down this skill to him. It was during these school years that the nickname "Ozzy," derived from his surname, stuck for good.

Osbourne never finished high school. With the family needing money, the future rock star had to start working at 15, taking jobs that had nothing to do with music. He tried his hand at plumbing, sanitation work, and even slaughterhouse labor, but couldn't stick with any of these jobs for long.

In 1963, Osbourne turned to petty crime, but proved just as hopeless at that. First, he collapsed under the weight of a stolen TV, then accidentally swiped kids' clothes instead of adult clothing in the dark. When he tried to sell it in a local pub, he was arrested. His father refused to pay his fine as a lesson, forcing the young man to spend six weeks in jail. The experience taught Ozzy one valuable lesson - he never wanted to go back to jail.

Black Sabbath

Ozzy's professional music career began in 1966. After stepping in for the sick vocalist of the Music Machine band at a concert, Osbourne was inspired to start his own band. Bassist Terence Butler quickly answered Ozzy's newspaper ad. They were soon joined by guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward.

Young Ozzy Osbourne at the dawn of his career

At first, Ozzy's band was called The Polka Tulk Blues, then Earth, and finally, the legendary Black Sabbath. The name was inspired by the eponymous horror anthology of Italian director Mario Bava. After the film's success, the band figured audiences would dig scary music. So they decided to focus on a style packed with dark motifs and occult themes.

One of the first performances of Black Sabbath

Starting in 1969, the band played cover versions of popular hits in clubs while working on their own material. One of the first was the song "Black Sabbath". Its success came largely from the lead singer's unique charisma – he blew audiences away with his devilish energy. The band's first eponymous album was released a year later, in February 1970. It ranked eighth in the UK chart and twenty-third in the US Billboard 200 chart. Despite mixed reviews, the album moved a million copies within a year.

Their second album, "Paranoid", released in September 1970, launched the rock musicians to worldwide fame. Critics still consider it the peak of the band's creativity. "Paranoid" shot straight to #1 in the UK Albums Chart and hit 12th place in the USA, going quadruple platinum.

Black Sabbath – Paranoid

In December 1970, the band embarked on their first tour in the USA. Around the same time, they started having creepy run-ins with Satanists. According to Black Sabbath members, after they turned down the Satanists' request to play "Walpurgis" at an event, the Satanists put a "curse" on them. The band members started having identical strange dreams. After that, they started wearing crosses "to ward off evil."

Their third studio album, "Master of Reality", was released in the spring of 1971. According to Iommi, the band experimented to make the songs sound "deeper and heavier." The album later went gold in their homeland of England and double platinum in the USA. Despite its commercial success, Rolling Stone critics slammed the album. This came from songs like "After Forever," which raised eyebrows about the band worshipping Satan, and "Sweet Leaf," which became an unofficial "marijuana anthem."

The evolution of Ozzy Osbourne (1968 - 2020)

In 1972, Black Sabbath played 32 concerts on the "Iron Man" tour in the USA and Canada. In September of the same year, the musicians released their fourth album, "Volume 4", and toured with it in the USA, Australia, and Europe.

In December 1973, Ozzy's band released another studio album, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". For the first time, critics gave it positive, even enthusiastic reviews. In 1974, the rock performers played at the California Jam along with Rare Earth, Eagles, and Deep Purple. From that point forward, critics warmed up to the band. Critics also embraced the band's sixth album, "Sabotage", released in 1975.

Black Sabbath was awaiting phenomenal success from the mid-70s

Starting in 1976, tensions began brewing within Black Sabbath for several reasons. First, Ozzy strongly opposed changing their musical style on new albums, even though the other musicians supported the idea. Second, according to his bandmates, Ozzy couldn't handle life on the road and developed serious addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Despite this, the band released "Technical Ecstasy" in 1977, which abandoned the doom metal sound fans knew and featured more melodic compositions. After the album's release, Osbourne tried to quit the band but soon returned to work on their next album, "Never Say Die."

Black Sabbath – Iron Man

The 1978 album flopped, earning harsh reviews from critics. The band was completely burned out, and Ozzy's substance abuse got even worse. Because of this, the band decided to kick Ozzy out of Black Sabbath. Years later, Ozzy called getting fired a "relief" — it truly gave his creativity a fresh start.

Solo Career

By late 1978, after getting fired, the flamboyant rocker was in complete despair, heavily using drugs and alcohol. However, that same year, thanks to Sharon Arden — his future wife and savvy manager — he assembled a new band for his solo project.

Ozzy Osbourne and Eddie Van Halen (1978)

His debut album Blizzard Of Ozz was created in 1980 with guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Bob Daisley, and drummer Lee Kerslake, formerly of Uriah Heep. Osbourne's debut solo album captured rock and roll's raw drive and power, earning critical acclaim and going quadruple platinum. The album's success got a boost from a shocking incident during a radio appearance when the drunk singer suddenly bit the head off a live dove.

In late 1981, Ozzy released his next album, Diary of a Madman. The songs were even more expressive, harder, and more intense than before. Osbourne dedicated the album to occultist Aleister Crowley. During the tour supporting the album, raw meat was hurled into the audience for shock value.

Fans, inspired by their idol's antics, started bringing dead cats and frogs to shows to hurl onstage. All of this got loaded into a special catapult that launched the fans' "gifts" right back into the crowd. In January 1982, the singer repeated his scandalous act, biting the head off a bat thrown at him during a concert. He did this by accident - thinking it was just a rubber toy. He later joked that this incident would end up on his tombstone.

Ozzy Osbourne bites off a bat's head

During a US tour in 1982 with guitarist Randy, Ozzy began work on a new live album. Randy and Osbourne had always written music together, but in March 1982, tragedy struck - the guitarist died in a plane crash. At first, Osbourne felt it was wrong to record an album without his fallen friend, but he eventually hired guitarist Brad Gillis to finish the record.

Ozzy Osbourne - 1982 Night Flight interview

In 1983, Ozzy's third studio album, Bark at the Moon, was released, which became infamous when a Canadian fan allegedly killed a woman and her two children while under the influence of the album's title track. Osbourne's lawyers then had to fight hard to protect the musician's reputation and prove his innocence.

Several fans of Osbourne committed crimes allegedly under the influence of his songs

The fourth album, created by Osbourne in 1986, was called The Ultimate Sin. It hit number six on the Billboard 200 and eventually went double platinum. Two years later, the musician released his fifth album "No Rest for the Wicked." It peaked at number 13 on the US charts and also went double platinum.

Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Babies

In 1987, Osbourne released the album Tribute, dedicated to his deceased colleague, guitarist Randy Rhoads. It featured several songs showcasing Rhoads' incredible guitar skills, plus the track Suicide Solution, which was also linked to tragedy - when an American teenager took his own life while listening to it, forcing Osbourne back to court to prove his innocence. After this case, some fans began believing that Osbourne's songs contained subliminal messages that could influence the subconscious.

John Osborne and Ozzy Osbourne are two different people. Playing Ozzy around the clock is very tough. People expect me to be biting someone's head off all the time, and these people start grimacing when they notice me. It's not fun anymore.

In 1989, Osbourne recorded the ballad "Close My Eyes Forever" with rock singer Lita Ford. After its release, it hit number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the highest chart position of the musician's solo career.

Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford – Close My Eyes Forever

In 1991, the singer's sixth album No More Tears appeared. It featured the song Mama, I'm Coming Home, which he dedicated to his wife. The song hit number two on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and became one of the biggest hits of spring 1992, and his second song after Close My Eyes Forever to crack the Billboard Hot 100 top 40. The tour in support of the album was called No More Tours - Osbourne intended to end touring.

The band of Ozzy Osbourne, with whom he recorded No More Tears

In 1994, Ozzy snagged a Grammy for the live version of "I Don't Want to Change the World." A year later, in 1995, he released his seventh album Ozzmosis. Critics hailed it as his best work since those groundbreaking first two albums. The album featured "My Little Man," a collaboration between Osbourne and legendary American guitarist Steve Vai.

In 1996, Ozzy and his wife Sharon launched Ozzfest, the annual rock festival that became a showcase for hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative metal acts. By the early 2000s, rock legends like Iron Maiden, Slipknot, and Marilyn Manson were gracing the Ozzfest stages.

In 1997, Black Sabbath reunited in its original line-up to participate in Ozzfest. The band delivered two explosive hometown shows in Birmingham as part of the festival. Those performances were captured for the band's live album "Reunion," which went on to achieve platinum status.

After the European tour in the summer of 1999, the musicians took up solo projects. Osbourne continued working on his eighth album Down to Earth, released to the public in 2001, while Iommi worked on his debut solo album Iommi, which featured Ozzy's track Who's Fooling Who, praised by critics as perfectly capturing the sophisticated bcbg style ("bon chic, bon genre" – "great style, beautiful appearance").

In 2002, the reality show "The Osbournes" chronicling the "domestic" life of Ozzy and his family premiered on MTV, becoming the most-watched show in the channel's history and winning an Emmy. The final episode aired in 2005. The show was later revived in 2009 on FOX and again in 2014 on VH1.

The reality show "The Osbournes" was broadcasted on MTV

In 2003, the rock legend recorded a cover of Changes, a track from his band's Vol. 4 album, alongside his daughter Kelly. The song topped the UK charts for the first time in Ozzy's career. This earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest gap between chart appearances - back in 1970, his song Paranoid had reached number four on the same charts.

In 2005, his ninth studio album Under Cover was released, featuring Osbourne's covers of 1960s-1970s hits that had significantly influenced his work. Two years later came his milestone tenth album Black Rain - a hard and melodic record that the musician recorded sober for the first time.

Interview with Sharon Osbourne: why she married Ozzy?

The eleventh album in Osbourne's solo discography, Scream, was released in 2010. As part of a brilliant promotional stunt at Madame Tussauds museum in New York, he posed as his own wax figure, sitting motionless in one of the halls waiting to prank unsuspecting visitors. When visitors got close, he'd suddenly jump up or scream, scaring the hell out of them.

Ozzy Osbourne – Dreamer

In 2013, a Black Sabbath album named "13" was released. It hit No.1 on the UK Albums Chart after just one week of sales. This happened a record 43 years after Paranoid topped the British charts. The previous record belonged to Bob Dylan - the gap between the release of his two chart-topping albums was 38 years. Album "13" also topped the prestigious US Billboard 200 for the first time in the band's long career, along with charts in seven other countries including Germany, Denmark, and Canada. The song God Is Dead? from this album received a "Grammy" award.

In 2016, the rock legend teamed up with his son Jack Osbourne for the travel show Ozzy and Jack's World Detour, serving as both co-creator and co-host. In 2017, the singer performed in Illinois during a solar eclipse, headlining the "Carterville's Moonstock" festival. He hit the stage just as the Moon eclipsed the Sun and the solar corona appeared, delivering a spine-tingling performance of his classic "Bark At The Moon."

Ozzy Osbourne's Personal Life

The idol of millions was, unsurprisingly, incredibly popular with women. In 1969 he married Thelma Riley - a cloakroom attendant from the Rum Runner club in his native Birmingham. The singer later called the marriage a mistake, admitting he "turned this woman's life into hell" through frequent infidelity. Thelma gave birth to two of his children - Jessica (1972) and Louis (1975). In addition, he adopted her son Elliot from a previous marriage. Osbourne and Riley stayed together for about 13 years.

A year after the divorce, in 1982, the rock artist married Sharon, the daughter of music producer Don Arden. Osbourne noted in an interview that his wife not only helped him put his affairs in order, cope with alcohol addiction and improve his image, but also inspired changes in his creativity, allowing him to stay on top of the career ladder. They had three children - Amy (1983), Kelly (1984), and Jack (1985).

In 2016, a crisis occurred in the rock star's family. Sharon found out about her husband's affair with a young hairdresser and decided to divorce, after which Ozzy publicly announced that he was suffering from sex addiction. The musician later admitted he fabricated this explanation to justify his actions and avoid losing his beloved wife. The remarkable Sharon appreciated his commitment to saving their family and found the strength to forgive his betrayal.

Ozzy Osbourne with his wife and children

In 2008, at age 60, Ozzy finally passed his driving test on the 19th attempt. The very next day, he crashed his brand-new Ferrari.

Ozzy Osbourne is a big fan of football. He has been a fan of Aston Villa FC from his native Birmingham for many years.

Ozzy Osbourne Now

In February 2020, a full decade after his last album Scream, the legendary rocker released his twelfth solo project, Ordinary Man, to positive critical reviews. It includes 11 tracks, including the title song, which he recorded together with Elton John.

Ozzy Osbourne and Elton John sang a duet

Osbourne had planned a massive spring 2020 tour with Judas Priest, but coronavirus forced its cancellation and postponement.

April 2020 also saw the scheduled release of animated sequel "Trolls," with Osbourne voicing the key villain King Thrash.

Photos: Ozzy Osbourne