The enduring appeal of Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne in 1986.

Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/

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The career of Ozzy Osbourne seems to transcend all place and time, from heavy metal music and sell-out concerts to reality television and so much more.

This is best evidenced by the fact I went to an Under-11 hockey game two days ago and, in a break in play, “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne was playing.

Again, it was interesting that obviously none of the players were born when that came out, but neither were many of the parents.

It reminded me of when I first came across Ozzy Osbourne and his music back in the 1980s.

Heavy metal history
To be honest Ozzy Osbourne was part of the heavy metal craze that began in junior high for me and carried on into the first year of high school, so like 1982 to 1985.

Head bangers, as they were called, wore black t-shirts with Ozzy stencilled on them.

Only later when someone was talking about Ronnie James Dio that I learned Ozzy Osbourne had been the front man for Black Sabbath, a 1970s heavy metal band that actually formed in 1969.

They were still going in the 1980s, but I never listened to them. The name actually kind of scared me, a residue from my religious upbringing.

They had a new lead singer, Dio as a matter of fact, because they had fired Ozzy Osbourne in 1979 for his excessive alcohol and drug use.

That set the stage for Ozzy’s solo career.

A new decade meant a new start for Ozzy Osbourne.

Solo act
Ozzy Osbourne released “Blizzard of Ozz”, his first solo album, in 1980. He hit the airwaves with a bang, because his first single was the aforementioned “Crazy Train”. It did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, but did peak at number nine on the Billboard Top Tracks chart and reached number six on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart in 1981. “Blizzard of Ozz” is one of a few albums to reach quintiple platinum status without benefit of a top 40 song.

He released several albums throughout the rest of the decade, including “Diary of a Madman” in 1981; the live album “Speak of the Devil” in 1982; then “Bark at the Moon” in 1983.

The title track “Bark at the Moon” is a fan favourite. The first time I heard it was on “Solid Gold”. In fact, that was the first time I actually heard Ozzy sing at all. On Monday morning at school, I would have been in Grade 9, I was talking about it with my classmate Tony Curtis. I remember how he really liked it when Ozzy stopped mid-song to sing “bark at the moon”.

A few weeks or months later, I saw Ozzy on TV once again. It was an excerpt of him singing “So Tired” on “The New Music Magazine”. It was kind of interesting. That show would basically air live footage someone shot at a concert, so the sound was not always clear. Sometimes it sounded like you were standing pretty far from the stage, so you couldn’t necessarily make out all the words.

Osbourne’s next album was “Ultimate Sin” in 1986, with the single “Shot in the Dark” which hit number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. He also released the extended play album “Ultimate Live Ozzy” in 1986. In 1987, he released the live album “Tribute”, in memory of Randy Rhoads, a close friend and guitarist who had been killed in an airplane crash five years earlier. “Tribute” peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 album chart.

In 1988, he released the extended play album “Back to Ozz”, and his next studio album “No Rest for the Wicked”, which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200.

Ozzy also teamed up with Lita Ford on the single “Close My Eyes Forever”, which went all the way to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It is a powerful power ballad.

He closed out the decade in 1989 with the greatest album “Best of Ozz”.

By the close of the decade, Ozzy Osbourne had cemented himself as one of the top heavy metal singers around.

The years after
He continues to write, record and perform to this day. In 1991, He released the album “No More Tears”, which peaked at number seen on the Billboard 200 album chart. It had four top-10 singles on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Charts, including “Mama, I’m Coming Home”, which went to number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100; “I Don’t Want to Change the World”, which won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance; and the title track which went to number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He has had other hits, including the song “Changes” with daughter Kelly Osbourne that hit number one in the United Kingdom. He has also had his own reality show with his family; and done so much more.

Parting thoughts
Ozzy Osbourne will always symbolize heavy metal music to me. When I was in junior high, then into my first year of high school, heavy metal fans wore black Ozzy Osbourne t-shirts with white three-quarter length sleeves. I remember those long before I heard his music, and quite honestly I hadn’t heard a lot.

Yet over the years, he has not only endured, but grown a new audience through reality television and how it has turned his wife and children into celebrities. In some ways it echoes Gene Simmons of KISS, and his enduring appeal.