Ozzy Osbourne Biography

Legendary heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne was born John Michael Osbourne in 1948 in Aston, Birmingham, England. Osbourne grew up in a working class household, and he struggled in school with a variety of learning disabilities. He found his outlet in live performance, at first appearing in a number of school plays. After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Ozzy struggled to find work at various jobs, until he was recruited by Geezer Butler to join the band Rare Breed in 1967.

The band lasted mere months, but it set the stage for a series of other opportunities to collaborate with other musicians, which would eventually result in the formation of Black Sabbath in 1969. The band released its debut album, Paranoid, in 1970, but it was the follow-up album, Master of Reality, which put Black Sabbath on the map and launched Ozzy Osbourne’s career as the front man for one of the era’s most significant heavy metal groups. Osbourne stayed with Black Sabbath until 1980, at which time he launched a solo career with the album Blizzard of Ozz. The album reached multi-platinum status despite a lack of any chart-topping singles, and launched a solo career for Ozzy which would last well into the new millennium.

As a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne has eleven albums so far, including: Bark at the Moon (1983), No Rest for the Wicked (1988), No More Tears (1991), Under Cover (2005), Black Rain (2007), and Scream (2010.) Notable singles include: “Crazy Train,” “Flying High Again,” “Bark at the Moon,” “Shot in the Dark,” “No More Tears,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Road to Nowhere,” “Time After Time,” “Changes,” “See You on the Other Side,” “Back on Earth,” “Dreamer,” “I Don’t Wanna Stop,” and “Let Me Hear You Scream.”

Although he continues to perform and record, in recent years, Ozzy Osbourne has become even more of a pop culture icon and television personality. The reality show The Osbournes, which followed the life of Ozzy, his wife Sharon, and their two children Jack and Kelly, aired on MTV in 2002 and become one of the network’s most successful series. The show was cancelled in 2005, but is still considered to be a classic reality series and ultimately The Osbournes turned all members of the family into highly recognizable celebrities.

Most recently, Ozzy Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath to record the album 13, which was released in 2013. Known today as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal,” Osbourne has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.