Black Sabbath pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Black Sabbath pay touching tribute to frontman Ozzy Osbourne following his death just weeks after final gig.
Black Sabbath have paid a touching tribute to Ozzy Osbourne following his death on Tuesday (07.22.25).
Frontman Ozzy, 76, passed away just weeks after he and fellow original Black Sabbath members – Tony Iommi, Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler and Bill Ward – made their final ever appearance together at the star-studded Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham.
The concert took place at Villa Park, Birmingham, not far from where Black Sabbath was formed in 1968.
The band posted a picture of Ozzy on stage at the gig and simply wrote: “Ozzy Forever.”
Aston Villa Football Club – which is based in Villa Park – wrote on X: “Aston Villa Football Club is saddened to learn that world-renowned rockstar and Villan, Ozzy Osbourne has passed away.
“Growing up in Aston, not far from Villa Park, Ozzy always held a special connection to the club and the community he came from.
“The thoughts of everyone at Aston Villa are with his wife Sharon, his family, friends, and countless fans at this extremely difficult time. Rest in peace, Ozzy.”
Ozzy’s family shared the news of his death via X, posting: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love."
Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne on 3 December 1948 in Aston, Birmingham.
He dropped out of school at 15 and after a brief prison stint for burglary, he embarked on a music career.
After working with several local bands, Ozzy soon joined forces with his Black Sabbath bandmates to form the band in the late 1960s.
They released their self-titled album in and went on to huge success with Paranoid and Master of Reality throughout the 1970s.
Ozzy gained a hellraiser reputation and was fired from the band in the late 1970s.
He went on to find huge solo success with 1980 album Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman the following year.
Ozzy was married to Thelma Riley from 1971 to 1982 and the couple had children Louis and Jessica together.
He married second wife Sharon Osbourne – who went on to become his manager - in 1982 and the pair remained married until his death.
They had three children, Aimee, Kelly and Jack, together.
Ozzy found new fans in 2002 with the launch of his family’s reality TV show The Osbournes.
He was joined on the show by Sharon, Kelly and Jack and the show ran on MTV for four seasons until it was cancelled in 2005.
Ozzy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019 and told Good Morning America that it had been "terribly challenging”.
He revealed in recent months that he could no longer walk due to the disease but just three weeks ago, he was able to join his bandmates on stage for five songs at their farewell show.
