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A Metal Profile | The crazy life of Ozzy Osbourne!
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In this Metal Profile, we take a look into the life and career of the Prince Of Darkness himself - Mr Ozzy Osbourne!
You can also watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7mfJVCp_TzbPNZNMMemJuw
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Transcript
Introduction to Mindless Metal
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Mindless Metal, my name is Dariam and I'm Laz and we're a husband and wife team, both professional musicians who talk all things heavy metal. Today we're bringing you one of our segments that is called a metal profile.
Ozzy Osbourne's Career Highlights
00:00:22
Speaker
That's right, we're celebrating the achievements and the career of a particular front man who is I'd say known in every household
00:00:31
Speaker
All across the world, I think everyone's heard his name. He's the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. We decided to focus on him today because we have been given good and bad news with regards to Ozzy. Good news is he's won a couple of Grammys with his latest album. The bad news, unfortunately, is he's too weak to tour ever again, supposedly. So we'll touch on those later. But now we're looking to the Prince of Darkness's life.
The Origins of Black Sabbath
00:00:56
Speaker
So, Ozzy Osbourne, or shall I say John Michael? No, don't say John. Ozzy's better. Ozzy's cooler. Yeah. Was born in Warwickshire, England, which is actually where we live. And he founded Black Sabbath with other members of Black Sabbath in 1968. And actually, they were not called Black Sabbath back then. They were called Earth.
00:01:20
Speaker
but they changed the name, I personally think it's much cooler, Black Sabbath, a year later to Black Sabbath. So Ozzy wanted to become a musician when he heard the song by The Beatles called She Loves You. That inspired him and apparently this is when he decided that he's gonna be a rock star. It's funny because it's not really the kind of song, the lyrically that you kind of associate Ozzy with. Not at all. That's the kind of impact that The Beatles have on everyone.
00:01:51
Speaker
So in the first years of Black Sabbath, actually, they never associated themselves with heavy metal. They just wanted to play, like, blues music, really.
Black Sabbath's Thematic Shift
00:02:02
Speaker
But what happened was, while recording their first album, Black Sabbath, Giza Butler read like some spiritual book, and apparently he woke up and saw, like, a dark figure at the end of his bed, which is really odd. And he told Aussie about this, and they wrote a song together called Black Sabbath.
00:02:20
Speaker
And this is how kind of the darker side of things started to happen. So obviously after this album we had Paranoid, which we did a full album review to and you're welcome to check it out.
Album Journey of Black Sabbath
00:02:35
Speaker
We also had a master of reality quite shortly after that album actually, which was quite big volume for Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath and Sabaton in 1975. Last two albums actually received very good reviews from media at that time, unlike the rest of them. No one really liked them that much, although, I mean media, although obviously the albums were extremely successful.
Ozzy's Solo Career Begins
00:03:01
Speaker
And in 1979, Ozzy was, unfortunately, dismissed from the band due to drug and alcohol issues. Yeah, he just couldn't control him. Yeah. So Ozzy was living in LA during the time after he was kicked out from Black Sabbath. And Black Sabbath's manager, Don Arden, tried to sign him to Jet Records. He was hoping that he would actually rejoin Sabbath, but he was willing to sort of give a solo career ago.
00:03:30
Speaker
Don Arden then sent his daughter, Sharon, to look after and oversee Aussie's career from here on in. And obviously Sharon became Sharon Osbourne, his wife, and is now famous for her TV appearances alongside him. So another important thing about Aussie being in LA at this time, especially whilst Ronnie James Deal was performing with Black Sabbath, was that Aussie started
The Blizzard of Ozz Era
00:03:50
Speaker
writing with other musicians and most importantly was American guitarist Randy Rhoads and Australian bass player Bob Dasely. And why this is important is because Aussie's music started to take a different form, it started to sound different, it wasn't so doomy, it wasn't so dark, it wasn't so dissonant.
00:04:08
Speaker
It had a much more lighter touch to it. So over the course of the first few years of the 80s, we had Aussie's debut album, Blizzard of Oz. We had his second album, Diary of a Madman. And then in 1982, Randy Rhodes unfortunately passed away due to a plane accident. In 1983, this is where things get interesting because at the end of the 70s in the UK,
00:04:28
Speaker
We had the new wave of British heavy metal movement coming in which had sort of the punk influences also as well as the traditional metal coming together. You had bands like Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, Tigers of Pantang all doing their thing.
00:04:41
Speaker
Now, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was quite a
Glam Metal Evolution
00:04:43
Speaker
short period. It only really lasted four or five years. And the emphasis of metal as a location in the world moved from the UK to America. And that's where glam metal and sort of hair metal started becoming a much more popular version, as well as the likes of speed metal and thrash. Now, this is important because Aussie's third album, 1983's Bark at the Moon, has a very, very glam metal feel. And now what we mean by glam metal is things like
00:05:09
Speaker
melodies and riffs that sound poppy, like kind of pop music, anthemic songs that can be upbeat, so you know you think of the chorus of Crazy Train, everyone can sing that, everyone knows it, whether you like metal or not, everyone knows the chorus of that song, and slow power ballads, Mama I'm Coming Home and Ghost Behind Your Eyes are good examples.
00:05:29
Speaker
So Ozzy made that shift along with Metal in general. He moved from England to the US just like Metal did and his albums were now sounding like glam metal. So he released a couple more albums before 1991's No More
Mainstream Success and Ozfest
00:05:43
Speaker
Tears. And the reason that No More Tears is important is because this is where Ozzy was first properly exposed to like a larger audience. It got lots of radio play and he was featured on MTV quite a lot. And another thing that's interesting about No More Tears
00:05:58
Speaker
is that he actually brought in outside writers so normally with Sabbath and his solo albums before he'd write with the band he was playing with but he brought in outside writers to help him and you kind of wonder did the quality of songs go up because of that and is that why he got more exposure and more radio play
00:06:15
Speaker
A quick note that in 1995 he released his album Osmosis, which is a good album, but it did actually feature Giza Butler on bass. I thought that was nice that, you know, however many years later they came back and did a little album together. In 1996, Ozzy, Sharon and his son Jack created the Ozfest, which was a heavy metal festival. The aim of it was to get metal fans closer to heavy metal in the US and closer to more of the music that they loved.
00:06:41
Speaker
and the result was actually they gave the fans what they wanted and on top of that they gave exposure to so many metal bands around the US at that time. A notable moment from the mid-2000s was in 2003 where he sang the Black Sabbath song Changes but in a new version with his daughter Kelly Osbourne.
Black Sabbath Reunion
00:06:59
Speaker
I actually remember when it came out and it was kind of sweet and a really nice version of the song.
00:07:05
Speaker
In 2011, Black Sabbath announced a reunion tour and an album. And it was supposed to be featuring all the original members. However, Bill Ward, the drummer, decided to drop out. We don't know exactly why. There's some contractual reasons. Pretty sure it was financial. Financial, contractual, we don't know. But basically, I think Rage Against the Machine, drummers stepped up and they did a fantastic album, in my opinion, called
00:07:34
Speaker
which was released in 2013 and in 2016 they did their last shows and the last one i think was actually in birmingham yeah it makes me a little emotional i got goosebumps it's kind of like oh that was really sweet and actually i think in 2022 so last year
Ozzy's Recent Works and Retirement
00:07:50
Speaker
Ozzy and Tony Iommi did like a surprise appearance in Birmingham as well. At the Commonwealth Games. I remember people talking about it in Warwickshire. Everyone was very excited for that. So yeah, I think that was his last show. So heading into the 2020s, Ozzy released another album in 2020 called Ordinary Man. But most importantly, in 2022, so last year, he released Patient No. 9. I think this is a really
00:08:21
Speaker
been the same port and album for like the history of metal or anything but when you see what he's done on here it's very clever and if you notice throughout his career Aussie has been helped and fueled by those around him. Don Arden, Sharon Osborne, you know these people I think
00:08:38
Speaker
the co-writers for his solo albums, Bob Dasely, Randy Rhodes, these people were kind of helping him elevate. And I'm not saying Ozzy did nothing, obviously he's a huge character and a huge work ethic, but he was elevated by those around him. And patient number nine featured a multitude of famous guests on it. I'm just going to list off some people who are on this album. Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Josh Holm, Rob Trujillo, Chad Smith,
00:09:07
Speaker
Duff McKagan, Taylor Hawkins, Ryan Tedder and Chris Cheney. Amazing. Now, it is. Yeah, what a star-studded lineup. And I think it's important because this is probably Ozzy's way of maybe keeping relevant in 2022. His music probably is a bit outdated, you know, from what we've heard before. And I think him getting all those guests on was a fantastic way to keep himself relevant and to get people from other genres coming in and listening to his music.
00:09:34
Speaker
And you know, this is I think as well. It's a huge deal for musicians of that calibre to come and do something with Ozzy. That just goes to show how much he's actually done for metal. The people want to work with him. Yeah, you wouldn't turn down the chance to work with Ozzy.
00:09:53
Speaker
as a result of Patient No. 9, but he was quite successful. The song, Degradation Rules by him and Tony Iommi from that album won the best metal performance at the Grammys, and the album as a whole, Patient No. 9, won the best rock album. Great. I'm really happy for it. Yeah.
00:10:12
Speaker
I mean, when the name Ozzy Osbourne is pronounced, you just think of this immense amount
Celebrating Ozzy's Legacy
00:10:17
Speaker
of charisma. He's such a charismatic character. He is a character, isn't he? It's just amazing. The energy that he brings, I think, is phenomenal.
00:10:27
Speaker
And the fact he's been doing this for so long, I mean, sing, I mean, is he singing? Because he can sing in places, but he kind of has a shouting energy, doesn't he? Either way, he's one of the most notorious and well-known front men in metal. And you've got the story about biting the head off the bat, the story from the Motley Crue movie about sniffing ants. Was it also something to do with his own urine? Did he cry?
00:10:50
Speaker
I'd rather not touch that. But anyway, everyone knows Ozzy Osbourne for his crazy antics, his stage persona. And I think it's important to mention his drug and alcohol addiction, because whilst you might think of that as a negative thing, he's still alive. I know, how is this man alive? He's still alive, he's still writing music and performing and like putting hands out. So like, kudos to you Ozzy.
00:11:17
Speaker
But what this has led to, unfortunately, and this could be a result of his substance abuse, is a retirement from touring.
Farewell and Podcast Closing
00:11:25
Speaker
So in 2019, he had a world tour planned, I believe. And then COVID happened. He also got a spine injury. That's the one. And he delayed it to this year or to 2023. And now all gigs or dates, all gig dates have been cancelled because he just feels he's too weak to perform. What do you think?
00:11:46
Speaker
I think, honestly, I think it's really sensible of him to choose to look after himself and his health and, you know, finally.
00:11:58
Speaker
but you know yeah he's been going on for so long and i think yeah as sad as it is he is not young anymore yeah i think it's a real shame and it is sad that you know if this was going to be his last tour maybe we would have gone maybe we would have sort of gone to see ozzy you know i have seen him play with sabbath actually but just to see it i have to brag about that um
00:12:22
Speaker
It's a shame, but you're right. He's done it with his health in mind. And in the end, he has given us close to 50 years of music, heavy metal, gigging, craziness, characteristics, life performances. So, Ozzy, you've done enough. I think, you know, everyone wishes you well. Thank you for all the music.
00:12:45
Speaker
Thank you so much for watching this video and I hope you enjoyed our conversation about the Prince of Darkness of the Osborne. And please don't forget to like this video and share it on your socials. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Also, your support means the world to us.
00:13:00
Speaker
And don't forget that if you don't have time to sit and watch the video on YouTube, we've also got a dedicated podcast, which you can find on all your podcast platforms, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, we're there. If you don't have time to watch us, but you want to hear us on your commute, then check out our podcast. Thanks for joining us again, guys. Have a metal day. And have a lovely day. We'll see you soon.