Ozzy Osbourne, Metal Legend, Passes Away at 76 after Triumphant Farewell Show

Ozzy Osbourne in front of his own artwork. The "Prince of Darkness" was auctioning the art for charity earlier this month. Image via Osbourne's FB page.

To some of our parents, he was some shocking, Satanic figure. A guy who bit heads off on stage. There was blood and theatrics and dark imagery and angry sounding riffs and screaming. They didn’t like it, they didn’t get it, but we did. We understood the music as catharsis and metaphor and the stage show as good theater.

But Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away today at the age of 76, was so much more than what he put on stage, though certainly he will forever be known as the grandfather of metal…

He’s a person countless other performers came to learn from, be mentored by, and encouraged by as they went on to make their own marks on the metal world and the music industry at large.

He also became a pop culture icon known for his nigh-unintelligible rants and heart of gold. He loved his family, he loved his wife, and though the Osbournes was a crazy reality show circus, you could see the love.

And that love was mutual.

It’s the same love fans and fellow musicians are pouring out onto social media as they learn of the loss of an icon, so soon after the farewell concert that returned this legend to his hometown of Birmingham.

Among the tributes were some very heartfelt condolences from the likes of Aerosmith, Metallica and Pantera:

But perhaps the most poignant was this one from his bandmates in Black Sabbath, having just come off what by all accounts was an amazing reunion for the recent farewell tour:

Ozzy Forever, indeed.