Sadly, The Prince Of Darkness has passed on.
He will be forever remembered as a pioneering band leader, performer, and all around cultural icon.
Some great coverage on his life and legacy linked below:
BBC – No Paywall
NYT – Gift Link
Rolling Stone U.S.A – Paywall, Apple News+ Link
Rolling Stone UK – No Paywall
I had the privilege of seeing Ozzy and co. live way back when in 2007 during the historic free edition of his oft annual Ozzfest heavy metal tour. This concert took place at the now named Glen Helen Amphitheater, formerly the Hyundai Pavilion.
At the time, as a 14 year boy, the band I would have been most excited to have seen was Lamb Of God.
However, Ozzy’s set was killer and one to remember for sure. Him and his band played flawlessly. I’ve always been a big fan of Zakk Wylde‘s guitar playing and performance style. Since I first saw him perform live with his band Black Label Society on the second stage at Ozzfest 2006. His live sound is massive and precise. Check out Ozzy Osbourne Live At Budokan to experience it for yourself. Robert Trujilo on Bass, Mike Bordin on Drums, and John Sinclair on Keyboards round out a great band lineup for that era of Ozz. For more on his various band members check out this wikipedia page.
Also, brief side bar, I know Wikipedia isn’t the definitive end all be all of sourcing on the internet, but it does provide readers with many links to other sources, often at the bottom of article pages, for further reading in an effective and streamlined way that is of value. Just don’t take everything on Wikipedia as the definitive truth. Thanks. Finding “truth” and accuracy in history takes effort and the review, summation, and distillation of many sources.
Back to seeing Ozzy live in 2007, I was early on in my heavy metal journey at the time and didn’t fully appreciate the historical significance of Ozzy and his previous work with the legendary and massively influential Black Sabbath. As an adult and still an avid heavy metal fan, I understand the significance in much greater depth and detail now.
Him and his band were on fire, and it was a great set! I had a great time and remember it sounding really amazing. No photos or videos to share on my end. I don’t think I even had a cell phone at that time. If I did have one it would have just been a basic flip phone. Maybe I did have one by then, maybe my very first one? I’ll have to ask my parents….
My very kind and supportive father went to his office very early in the morning to acquire these free Ozzfest tickets for me and a friend to attend. He drove us all the way out to San Bernardino from West L.A. and probably went to grade papers, read, and or write for the day at a book store or coffee shop near by I presume, I’ll have to ask him. He too is an avid heavy metal fan as well, don’t worry.
Cool thing is I still have my Ozzfest 2007 shirt. I still wear it pretty regularly. It’s held up great over the past 18 years.
However, I don’t think I can stand for 10 plus hours anymore out in the sun. But it was fun at the time and an experience I’ll always remember fondly.
Per Rolling Stone, some background on Ozzfest, for those of you who may not be familiar with the festival:
By the late Nineties, Osbourne was metal’s ringmaster, lending his name to the touring Ozzfest and headlining the annual touring festival either as a solo artist or with Sabbath. When it seemed like popular culture wanted to spurn heavy artists, he had created a haven for them to reach their audience directly at a one-stop event. He was once a misfit and, in turn, provided a gathering spot for misfits to find fit in.
After the alternative-rock fest Lollapalooza rejected Osbourne as a performer, Sharon assembled the first Ozzfest lineup in 1996, with Slayer, Danzig, and Neurosis, among others, supporting Ozzy. Black Sabbath reunited for Ozzfest ’97, and a live recording of “Iron Man” from their Reunion record earned them a Grammy.
Over the years, Osbourne’s tours had introduced metal fans to Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Korn, and several other heavy hitters, so when Ozzfest became an international, annual touring event, it became the most desired touring gig for heavy bands. Toward the late Nineties, the festival rode a crest of popularity with the burgeoning nu-metal scene, whose bands treated Osbourne like a deity.
OzzFest 2007 Line Up
Ozzy Osbourne
Lamb of God
Static X
Lordi
Hatebreed
Behemoth
DevilDriver
Nile
Ankla
The Showdown
3 Inches of Blood
Daath
In This Moment
Chthonic
Black Tide
I also attended Ozzfest 2006 in San Diego, at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, formerly the Coors Amphitheater, with my aunt. Sadly Ozzy didn’t perform that evening due to illness if I remember correctly. He might have also just been performing on “selected dates” on the 2006 run and July, 9th, 2006 might have just been a day off for him so to speak. System Of Down headlined that evening instead. It was great and the only time I’ve seen System live since.
There were a lot of great bands on that 2006 lineup. Many of which continue to influence me to this day. Stand outs for me are System of a Down, Avenged Sevenfold, and Between the Buried and Me, even tho I didn’t catch their set at this show as it was very early in the day.
OzzFest 2006 Line Up
Ozzy Osbourne
System of a Down
Disturbed
Avenged Sevenfold
Hatebreed
Lacuna Coil
DragonForce
Black Label Society
Atreyu
Unearth
Bleeding Through
Norma Jean
Walls of Jericho
The Red Chord
A Life Once Lost
Strapping Young Lad
All That Remains
Full Blown Chaos
Between the Buried and Me
Bad Acid Trip
As mentioned prior, I wasn’t able to see every single band listed above in 2006. If memory serves correctly I didn’t see Dragonforce sadly, this was right before the rise of Through the Fire and Flames. Maybe, I did see them in passing and I don’t remember. I feel very old writing and reflecting on this part of my life. A time period I cherish very much. I wish, I could have seen Atreyu, they are one of the few bands I was never able to see live with that era’s lineup.
Suffice (it) to say without Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s inception of heavy metal music, via their eponymous debut album, Black Sabbath (album), there are no Metallicas, Slayers, Lamb Of Gods, Avenged Sevenfolds, or Rage Against The Machines etc. Band’s so key to my development a musician and by extension a business owner in music that I would not be writing this very blog without the influence of Ozzy and Black Sabbath on so many of my musical heroes and by extension myself.
Quoting form Rolling Stone again;
“On any given day, the heavy-metal genre might as well be subtitled ‘Music derivative of Black Sabbath,'” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said, when inducting Black Sabbath into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Osbourne’s voice and performances were crucial ingredients to the group’s modus operandi. Queen guitarist Brian May once described Osbourne as “a willowy singer wailing in a way that made the kids’ parents despair” — and that is exactly what the kids wanted in the music.
All this is to say music is an extremely powerful and ephemeral art form.
I am thankful to Ozzy, Black Sabbath, and all of his band members over the years for having such a huge influence on me and just about all of the artists I grew up adoring, admiring, and hoping to be like one day as a kid and teenager.
His annual Ozzfest helped pave the way and increase the reach of bands I’ve spent countless hours listening to including; System of a Down, Avenged Sevenfold, Lamb Of God, Trivium, Between The Buried And Me, Slayer, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Behemoth, Nile, 3 Inches of Blood, Atreyu, and even maybe a little Disturbed when no one was looking.
Not to mention his immense influence over the big four:
Metallica
Slayer
Megadeth
Anthrax
Violent Femmes (not sure if they were inspired by Ozzy and co.), Metallica, and Green Day among others were my gateway bands into music, both inspired by Ozzy’s solo work and Black Sabbath. Ozzy also inspired Tom Morello, the recent music director of the Back to the Beginning concert and one of my favorite guitarists of all time. There is a Whammy Pedal on my pedal board for a reason.
While watching Back to the Beginning a few weeks back. A recurring thought I had the entire time was as follows;
Back to the Beginning, and by extension Ozzy, sums up the power of music quite well. You never know who you’ll inspire.
All those great opening acts for that show;
Mastodon
Rival Sons
Anthrax
Halestorm
Lamb of God
Alice In Chains
Gojira
Pantera
Tool
Slayer
Guns N’ Roses
Metallica
We’re all inspired by Ozzy and his creative output as developing musicians.
Reminding us that every time we sit down to write, produce, and create new music we feed into something bigger than our own individual selves.
I am thankful to Ozzy and his many collaborators over the years for inspiring both me and my heroes to express ourselves through the powerful medium that is music creation, performance, and the art of listening.
You’ll be remembered forever Ozzy and so will so many of the artists you’ve inspired in your creative wake.
MUSIC LISTENED TO WHILE WRITING THIS POST
Ozzy Osbourne Essentials – Ozzy Osbourne
Not an Apple Music user check out, not sponsored, Songshift for playlist conversion between music platforms. I used it myself yesterday on a project for reference tracks. Very helpful.
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Written on MacBook Pro and iPad Pro using Drafts Pro in Markdown.
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