Ozzy Osbourne, the pioneering heavy metal singer and Black Sabbath frontman whose star turn on reality TV endeared him to a new generation of fans, has died, his family announced on Tuesday July 22, 2025. He was 76 years old.
“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,” the family said in a statement signed by Osbourne’s wife Sharon, as well as his children Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.
“He was with his family and surrounded by love.” They added, “We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
The exact cause of his death was not given, though Osbourne has battled an array of health issues over the past several years.
Ozzy Osbourne was a British musician who gained a loyal following as the vocalist for the 1970s heavy metal group Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career in the 1980s cultivating a rebellious, satanic persona as “the Prince of Darkness”.
Osbourne became the representative metal front man, known for his “shock rock” antics onstage and his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction in his personal life. In later years he and his family starred in a popular reality TV series, The Osbournes (2001–05), which had several spin-offs.
Osbourne dropped out of school at age 15 and held several low-paying jobs. He also engaged in petty crime and at 17 was imprisoned for two months for burglary.
After his release, he sang in a number of local rock groups, eventually forming the rock band Earth with guitarist Tony Iommi. To avoid confusion with another band of the same name, the group changed its name to Black Sabbath—after an old Boris Karlof movie.
Black Sabbath released albums each year through the mid-1970s, except 1974. After the tour for Never Say Die (1978), Osbourne left the band. A period of despair and drug abuse led to Osbourne’s divorce from his first wife, Thelma Mayfair. He then met and married Sharon Arden, who encouraged him to start a career as a solo artist.
By the end of the 1990s, Osbourne had reunited the original members of Black Sabbath for a new album and tour, and in 1999 the band won a Grammy for best metal performance for the song “Iron Man.” In 2013 Osbourne made his first studio record, 13, with Black Sabbath after a 35-year absence. “God Is Dead?,” a single from the recording, earned the band another Grammy for best metal performance.
Tributes has poured in for the figure “Prince of Darkness.”.
