Unreal, less than three weeks after “Back to the Beginning,” the end of the road for a once in a generation frontman.
Farewell Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy was not a musical genius, save his voice, which was awesome and inimitable. He resides firmly in this old and flawed Top 10 heavy metal vocalists list which I should probably update.
He was the face of heavy metal, and its soul. If not its brightest talent its center, the sun around which the rest of the metal universe revolved. His charisma was off the charts. The world turned out to see him and Black Sabbath off in Birmingham, which you don’t do for assholes.
I've never known a world without Ozzy Osbourne. Four of Sabbath's legendary first six albums were out before I was born. His loss is immeasurable.
I think some of Ozzy’s solo material is overlooked. Certainly not “Crazy Train,” “Bark at the Moon,” “Mr. Crowley” or “Mama I’m Coming Home,” but how about “Fire in the Sky,” “Mr. Tinkertrain” or “The Ultimate Sin”?
As I noted in my Black Sabbath post our metal heroes are dying off, and the list is getting longer. Lemmy, Dio, EVH, Paul Di'Anno, and now Ozzy. That’s how it goes, none of us are getting out alive.
It makes me sad of course, but also reflective, and expansive. Paradoxically death opens my heart. See enough of it, and you realize life is too short for grudges and pettiness and trying to “own” each other. How about more celebration of the good, of reading and taking a few notes from the “Diary of a Madman” who wrang every fucking bead of sweat out of this life?
Maybe if we can all stop hating each other for five minutes and realize that we’re walking a finite and short path on a spinning ball of rock in the darkness of an unfathomably massive void we’d all be … a little happier? Or at least more appreciative of the miracle of our own lives. Ozzy had his dark moments and transgressions and addictions, but the outpourings of support confirm a few common traits: He laughed a lot, he cared about his friends, and he was hopeful.
Maybe it’s not too late
To learn how to love, and forget how to hate
8 comments:
My son and I watched the entire back to the beginning together (from 10am to 8pm) and I definitely felt that something was passing from the world. Something that for me has always been there (I’m 49).
Godspeed, Mr. Osbourne.
That must have been a great experience, watching with your son.
I'm also sorry to hear about Ozzy Osbourne's passing. I always liked his music, either with Black Sabbath or Solo. Although I'm not a big Heavy Metal fan, I do think that "War Pigs" and "Paranoid" are two of the best rock songs recorded in *any* genre.
Very nice tribute, not that I expected anything less from you. Ozzy may have been a flawed human being (as we all are), but his musical influence is undeniable. And I agree, people spend too much time hating each other these days. I mean, it's always kind of been that way, but the internet has certainly amplified it. We need to spend more time just sharing fantasy and metal with each other.
Hard to beat those Sabbath classics. I heard War Pigs described as possibly the greatest anti-war song ever. Of course it's still more relevant than ever, describing the likes of Putin to a T.
Agreed man... appreciate your thoughtful comments as always.
Some evidence out there that Ozzy had retained Church membership and reaffirmed his faith before his passing. Not sure what to believe but I am in the camp hoping that was true.
He was a confirmed Christian and quite spiritual, though I don't believe he was a churchgoer or a follower of organized religion. Sabbath frequently incorporated religious messages into their music and were wrongly perceived as Satanic.
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