Do we like Ozzy Osbourne?
Our score: 8 out of 10. He has a long record of chaos, one old public apology and some real kindness, and I found no pattern of harmful words or acts.
John Michael Osbourne was born in Birmingham in 1948, one of six kids in a working-class family. He left school at 15, was arrested for burglary, and did three months inside when his dad wouldn't pay the fine. Then his father bought him a PA system, and in 1968 he joined three local lads to form Black Sabbath. The rest is heavy metal history.
Black Sabbath sacked him in 1979, reportedly after he missed a gig in Nashville, and he promptly launched a solo career with Blizzard of Ozz and Crazy Train. He sold more than 55 million records, then became the world's most lovable mumbling dad on MTV's The Osbournes. He went into the Rock Hall twice, once with the band in 2006 and once solo in 2024.
Now the harm check. On LGBTQ+ people, PinkNews reports he apologised in 1989 after his guitarist made a homophobic remark on stage, and he reportedly pledged thousands to an AIDS fundraiser. He also called out Westboro Baptist Church for using Crazy Train at a protest, saying he was “sickened and disgusted”. I found nothing from him on trans issues either way, so that's a gap rather than a pass for any one thing.
The farewell show, Back to the Beginning in July 2025, was billed as a giant charity gig for Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice. Early claims of $190 million were disputed, and Sharon Osbourne later put the figure at $11 million, saying no performer took payment. Whatever the exact sum, it was a heck of a way to bow out.
The recent noise is the AI avatar: the family unveiled an interactive digital Ozzy in June, many online called it a cash grab, and Sharon Osbourne said it keeps his legacy going. That's the family's call, not his, so it doesn't count against him. The BRITs gave him a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in February.
So would we support him? Yes. He was a chaotic, loud bloke who got up to some nonsense, owned up to it, and spoke up against hate when it was thrown in his face. The asterisk is for the Alamo, not for anything he did to a person.