Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal legend, dies at 76


https://www.cbsnews.com/chicag...ne-dies-age-76-rocker/

Black Sabbath was my first concert back in 1971. It was loud.

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I :heart; Q

I saw ties to Switzerland. If true, he ended it like the legend he was.

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I was right.

The only peace Ozzy would ever find was in death. The Prince goes home.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

He really was one of last of the great rock stars. The original rise and fall was spectacular. That he emerged from the ashes like the phoenix of legend was his crowning glory. Ozzy got the last laugh.

Here's a gentle re-imagining of The Sabs "Planet Caravan." The forlorn Ozzy vocal just seems profound and appropriate at this time.

Slide on O' Prince of Darkness... wherever your journey may take you.




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Slide On

I blame him for all of the audio systems I have overspent on throughout my life and my hearing loss.

I owe substantial portions of my hearing loss to the Prince of Darkness as well. Master of Reality was my first exposure. Maybe "Sweet Leaf" really is a "gateway drug."

I never got to see Ozzy perform with Black Sabbath. I did see Black Sabbath's first tour without him (Heaven & Hell, 1980), and then saw Ozzy's first tour with Randy Rhoads (August, 1981) from 2nd row of the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach.

Both were awesome shows. I don't know the whole story between Ronnie James Dio's rivalry with Ozzy, but RJD once said something like, "Ozzy couldn't carry a tune in a bucket."

That never really mattered; Ozzy had a voice that fit the band, and a stage presence that wowed a crowd. That combination basically created and defined a genre of music that's held itself together and relevant far longer than most flash-in-the-pan fads.

"Sweet Leaf" really is a "gateway drug." LOL, good one. Just think that was written in 1971. Bold to sing about an illegal drug back then! Typically songwriters would avoid that due to censors back then.

Or, maybe he was just singing about having an English Tea party.

I had rock superbowl tix to see Ozzy and Randy Rhodes. But, Randy died a few days prior. That was shocking. I think I was in high school and taking guitar lessons at the time and thus fascinated with Randy Rhodes.

Surprising lyrics for the song that follows Sweet Leaf on that album, After Forever.
1st Christian Metal song ever?

Yep, that caught me off guard back in the day. Geezer gets the lyrics credit on that one. Both Ozzy and Geezer were raised Catholic. Some interesting factoids and trivia at https://blacksabbath.fandom.com/wiki/After_Forever

There are some recent articles about Ozzy's faith claiming he was a lifelong member of the Church of England after attending Catholic school as a child, prays before every performance, and even considered the priesthood. He did often state that the Prince of Darkness was just a moniker and character he adopted for the band image and theme.