Ozzy Osbourne – Diary of a madman

Ozzy Osbourne isn’t just a mumbling bewildered charmer on a reality TV show. He’s the godfather of all that is Heavy Metal, a leatherlungs supergod. Dyslexia, personal tragedy and drug abuse have never stopped him. Ozzzzzzzzzzzy!

by Motley Chloe

Alrighty then! The aim of this delightful little article is to scribe a heartfelt love letter to Heavy metal/ Hard Rock. Join us in a salute to the heavy metal heroes that fill us with unbelievably powerful lyrics, monstrous guitar riffs, eye-bleeding drum solos and skull-crushingly beautiful vocals that make me personally wish that I could either have written them, sang them or devoted myself to the men that have.

To kickstart your metal hearts let’s take a look at the one and only Prince of Darkness, the godfather of all things Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne.

Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne on the 3rd of December 1948 in Birmingham. Growing up in a working class community and living in a rough part of England with learning difficulties such as dyslexia and ADHD simply spurred Ozzy on to do something outrageous with his life… proving that you can achieve anything no matter how difficult or unlikely it may be.

To cut a very long (though wonderful) story short, Ozzy went on to become the lead singer of Earth. Earth then changed their name to become hugely known and loved as Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath were one of the first Heavy Metal bands to grace the world with their dark and intense music. Coming from the early 60’s blues rock scene with bands like the Kinks and Cream, Black Sabbath used songs like Paranoid, War pigs and Iron Man to open up a dark doorway and venture into the unknown in the name of Rock N Roll.

Ozzy went on to become a solo artist after drug abuse in the band took its toll, ending in Ozzy being kicked out of the band, then lying in a dream like state influenced by drugs and alcohol. It was Sharon Osbourne (Ozzy and Sharon Married in 1982) who helped reshape Ozzy’s career and it was partly because of Sharon that Ozzy then went on to become an unstoppable solo artist with jaw droppingly talented guitarist Randy Rhoads. Ozzy recorded his debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz in 1980, making the transition from Black Sabbath Lead Singer to solo artist and accomplished Prince of Darkness.

Ozzy has donated to many charities, released 17 albums including the most recent, SCREAM, and Essential Ozzy Osbourne 3.0. His long list of amazing and ear pleasing albums include Diary of a Madman (1981), Bark at the Moon (1983) and the underrated Live and Loud album (1993).

In reality what I want to write about this Ozzy Osbourne’s surreal greatness could have filled a hardback book. The Man is more than just a long haired, heavily tattooed father. Ozzy Osbourne is a genius.