Saturday, July 4, 2026

RIP Ozzy Osbourne, 76, Rebel Rocker for Decades Became Reality Star Late in Life, Battled Parkinson’s Disease

Share

★ Make Showbiz411 your Preferred Source on Google

So sad to hear about Ozzy Osbourne. He fought many illnesses including Parkinson’s Disease for years, with laughter and a mordant sense of humor.

Ozzy was the quintessential mad hard rocker. He became an urban legend for biting off the heads of doves or bats or something on stage. Was it true? Did it matter?

When wife Sharon put the Osbournes on MTV in a reality show, Ozzy became accessible in new ways. I had the pleasure of chatting with him quite a bit. Surprise he was a tiny fellow. And frail by the time I knew him. But he was lovely and fun.

I had never seen Black Sabbath perform until they got their Special Merit Grammy Award a few years ago. I was sitting in the front row of the Dolby Theater, and I was nervous the sound of the group performing would be beyond cacaphonous. But it wasn’t. Black Sabbath, in their way, was very musical. That’s what kept them in good stead when most bands had faded away.

Condolences to Sharon and her family. The Osbournes were a soap opera, but they were never boring and Ozzy will never be forgotten.

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News