By Wonderwall.com Editors
11:00am PST, Dec 5, 2023
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Ozzy Osbourne has enjoyed an incredible — and occasionally controversial — time in the spotlight thanks to his work with his band Black Sabbath, his thriving solo career and his pioneering reality TV show "The Osbournes," which introduced him to a whole new generation of fans.
In 2020, the rock star known as the Godfather of Heavy Metal and the Prince of Darkness publicly announced that he has Parkinson's disease, later revealing he'd been diagnosed back in 2003.
Remarkably, though he's since stopped touring amid a slew of medical issues, Ozzy — seen here at 74 on a walk in Los Angeles with his caretaker in April 2023 — is still performing and making music.
As the rock star marks his 75th birthday on Dec. 3, 2023, join us as we take a look back at Ozzy's life and career in photos…
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John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne was born in Birmingham, England, on Dec. 3, 1948, to working-class parents. He began performing in school plays as a child and knew he wanted to be singer when he heard The Beatles' "She Loves You" in 1968. The future superstar dropped out of school at 15 and worked a series of odd jobs including trainee plumber, apprentice toolmaker and car factory horn-tuner before he was arrested for burglary. After spending six weeks in prison, Ozzy formed his first band in 1967. He's seen here a few years later circa 1973.
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In 1969, Ozzy Osbourne teamed up with Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward to form Black Sabbath. The band (seen here in 1970) was a success as they released their chart-topping first album, "Black Sabbath," and their second album, "Paranoid," in the same year. Just five months after "Paranoid," Black Sabbath released a third album, "Master of Reality," which immediately went gold.
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In 1973, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath released their biggest album yet, "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." It was critically acclaimed and went on to be certified platinum.
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Ozzy Osbourne is seen here in 1975, the same year Black Sabbath released their sixth album, "Sabotage." After the wild success of their first five, this one was their first that — despite making the Top 20 — failed to go platinum in the States. The same year, Ozzy was injured in a motorcycle accident, which led his band to cut short a tour featuring Kiss as their opening act. That December, Black Sabbath's record label inexplicably released a greatest hits album without the band's input.
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In addition to his career success, Ozzy Osbourne also became a family man during the early '70s. He wed Thelma Riley in 1971 and they soon welcomed two children, Jessica and Louis. Ozzy later referred to his first marriage as "a terrible mistake" and admitted that, due to his drug and alcohol addiction, he couldn't even remember when his first two children were born. Ozzy, Jessica and Louis are pictured here in 1978.
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By 1976, the relationship between Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne was strained. The band had begun heavily abusing drugs and alcohol, with Ozzy partying the hardest. "I get high, I get f***** up," he admitted to Sounds in 1978. "What the hell's wrong with getting f***** up? There must be something wrong with the system if so many people have to get f***** up … I never take dope or anything before I go on stage. I'll smoke a joint or whatever afterwards." Ozzy, seen here with the band in 1978, was fired from Black Sabbath in April 1979 for his unreliability and substance abuse problems.
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After spending "three months doing coke and booze," Ozzy Osbourne told Classic Rock magazine, he bounced back from his firing with a solo career. The rocker began performing with a new band, Blizzard of Ozz, in 1979. His debut solo album, "Blizzard of Ozz," was released in 1980 to universal praise. It went on to achieve multi-platinum status and became one of the best selling albums of the 1980s.
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Ozzy Osbourne also found love in the early 1980s. He became reacquainted with Sharon Osbourne, then known as Sharon Arden, whom he'd met in the '70s when her father, Don Arden, managed Black Sabbath. After Don and the band fired Ozzy, the future "The Talk" host started managing him as a solo act and the two soon fell head-over-heels in love. Sharon and Ozzy married in Hawaii on July 4, 1982. They're seen here a few months before their wedding.
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In 1982, Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber while performing in Iowa. He later shared in 2002 that the bat bit him back, leading to him being treated for rabies. In January 2019, Ozzy (seen here shooting the cover of "Diary of a Madman" in 1981) commemorated the 37th anniversary of the bat-biting incident with the release of an Ozzy plush bat toy "with detachable head."
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Ozzy Osbourne (seen here in 1981) continued to perform with Blizzard of Ozz, releasing four more albums in the 1980s: "Diary of a Madman," "Bark at the Moon," "The Ultimate Sin" and "No Rest for the Wicked."
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When Ozzy Osbourne wasn't rocking out or causing controversy, he was spending time with his growing family. He and Sharon Osbourne welcomed their first child together, daughter Aimee Osbourne, in September 1983. The family of three are pictured here in 1984.
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A few weeks before this studio portrait was taken in Detroit in March 1984, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for public intoxication after he was busted urinating on the famed Cenotaph statue across the street from the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. He got out on a $40 bond in time to perform at the city's convention center the same night. But it wouldn't be his first arrest that spring…
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Ozzy Osbourne was arrested again, this time on a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication after police found him staggering around the entertainment district in Memphis, Tennessee. He's seen here in a mug shot taken by Shelby County police in May 1984.
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Aimee Osbourne was soon joined by little sister Kelly Osbourne. Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne welcomed their second daughter together in October 1984. Kelly and Ozzy are pictured here shortly after her birth.
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Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne's family was complete with the birth of their son, Jack Osbourne, in November 1985. The entire family is seen here at their home in 1986.
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In the late '80s, Ozzy Osbourne was often intoxicated to the point that he and Sharon Osbourne began physically fighting. Sharon would later describe herself as "a beaten woman" during her marriage to the rocker. The violence, drugs and alcohol abuse hit a boiling point when Ozzy was arrested in 1989 for attempted murder after he tried to strangle Sharon in a drunken and high haze. The rock star (seen here on his way to court in Buckinghamshire, England) spent six months in rehab following the incident and the couple remained married.
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Ozzy Osbourne continued to enjoy professional success in the early '90s. He released two more albums, 1991's "No More Tears" and 1995's "Ozzmosis." "No More Tears" went four-times platinum and his 1995 record reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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In 1996, Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne started one of their biggest projects to date: Ozzfest. The heavy metal music tour was a major hit with fans and a major moneymaker for Ozzy (seen here the same year Ozzfest began). The festival tour also contributed to Ozzy becoming the first heavy metal star to make $50 million in merchandise sales.
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Ozzy Osbourne is shown here enjoying the fruits of his labor, including numerous gold and platinum plaques. He's pictured at his home in 1996.
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In 1997, Ozzy Osbourne reunited with the original members of Black Sabbath for the first time since his firing nearly 20 years earlier. The band came together to perform at Ozzfest in 1997 to the delight of music lovers everywhere.
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Ozzy Osbourne also continued to spend quality time with his family during the '90s. He's pictured with wife Sharon Osbourne and their kids, Kelly, Jack and Aimee, at the Kerrang Awards in London in 1997.
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Ozzy Osbourne released his first album in six years in 2001 (he's seen here in the studio that year). "Down to Earth" went gold upon release and was certified platinum two years later. It's lead single, "Dreamer," peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
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One year later, Ozzy Osbourne decided to expand his resume in a whole new way. The heavy metal rocker began starring on the MTV reality TV show "The Osbournes" alongside his wife, Sharon Osbourne, and two of his five children, Kelly Osbourne and Jack Osbourne. The series became one of the most viewed MTV shows ever and produced several memorable pop culture moments. "The Osbournes" lasted for four seasons before ending in 2005. Ozzy later told the BBC that he was "stoned during the entire filming of 'The Osbournes.'"
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Ozzy Osbourne posed with wife Sharon Osbourne and four of his five kids — Aimee Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Jack Osbourne and Louis Osbourne (his son from his first marriage; Louis's big sister, Jessica, has reportedly been estranged from Ozzy over the years) — when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2002.
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Four months after Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon Osbourne renewed their wedding vows with a star-studded ceremony on New Year's Eve 2002, the couple celebrated more happy news: In May 2003, Ozzy and Sharon cheered during an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" as they announced that Sharon, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002, was cancer-free. But just a few months later in December 2003, the couple faced more health woes when Ozzy was seriously injured in a quad bike accident on the grounds of his Buckinghamshire estate in England. He broke his collarbone, six ribs and a neck vertebra and suffered bleeding in his lungs.
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In late 2003, Ozzy Osbourne achieved his first ever U.K. No. 1 single, thanks to some help from his daughter, Kelly Osbourne: The two recorded a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad "Changes." Earlier that year, the father-daughter duo hosted the American Music Awards (pictured) with Sharon and Jack.
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Never one to slow down, Ozzy Osbourne continued to tour, perform and record new music throughout the 2000s. He released his ninth studio album, "Under Cover," in 2005 and followed it up with 2007's "Black Rain" and 2010's "Scream." In 2009, he published his autobiography, "I Am Ozzy." It was during this time that Ozzy also spoke out about his continued sobriety after years of drugging and drinking. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation," he told Billboard. "But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go [to pieces].'" He's pictured here at VH1's "Rock Honors" in 2007.
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In 2011, Ozzy Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath for their first studio album since the 1970s. The album, "13," was released two years later. The band embarked on a world concert trek, "The End" tour, in 2016 (seen here). It grossed more than $85 million.
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Ozzy Osbourne became a grandfather for the fifth time in 2012 when his youngest son, Jack Osbourne, welcomed a daughter with then-girlfriend Lisa Stelly. Pearl Clementine was the first grandchild for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne together. Jack and Lisa later split after welcoming two more girls; Jack later had another daughter with fiancée Aree Gearhart, an interior designer. Ozzy and Sharon's daughter Kelly Osbourne made them grandparents yet again in 2022 when she welcomed her first child with Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson.
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Sadly, Ozzy Osbourne relapsed in 2013 (he's pictured here that June) after years of sobriety. "For the last year and a half I have been drinking and taking drugs," he wrote in a Facebook post. "I was in a very dark place and was an a****** to the people I love most, my family." Six months after returning to rehab and sobering up, Ozzy reflected on his relapse, telling the Sunshine Coast Daily, "I thought I was gonna lose my family at one point. [Sharon] just said, 'Look, I've got my own thing going on and I can't deal with you anymore. Get the f*** out, sort yourself out, then we'll talk.' I don't blame her in the slightest."
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Ozzy Osbourne returned to reality TV in 2016. He partnered with son Jack Osbourne (pictured) for "Ozzy & Jack's World Detour" on the History Channel. During each episode, the pair, who are history buffs, visited sites to learn about their history — especially unusual fun facts — from experts. Kelly Osbourne joined the cast for the show's third season in 2018.
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Ozzy Osbourne's world was torn apart in 2016 when his wife of 33 years, Sharon Osbourne (pictured with him that May), left him after reports surfaced that he was having an affair with his hairstylist, Michelle Pugh. Sharon addressed the separation on her talk show, "The Talk." "I'm doing great," she said to the audience during an opening segment. "I really, really am. I honestly am empowered and I have found this inner strength… I just need to time to think about myself, and what do I want for the rest of my life. [I'm] getting to the last chapter of my life. I really want to think carefully about where I want to go… because I'm 63 years of age, and I can't keep living like this."
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Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne were able to work through his affairs — it turns out there were six of them, Sharon revealed — and recommitted themselves to their marriage in 2017. (They're seen here at an event in London, post-reconciliation, that October.) They renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas on Mother's Day 2017. "Thirty-five years with someone is a hell of a long time. And I think I fell out of love with my husband and then fell back again," Sharon explained on "The Talk." "Probably, really, just months ago because he was trying so hard to be a better person — desperately trying, working his program, working with his therapist every day and trying so hard. I just had a newfound love and I respected him because he's seriously trying to be a better person."
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In February 2018, Ozzy Osbourne announced that he would be embarking on his final world tour, "No More Tours II." (He's seen here at a press conference marking the announcement with wife Sharon Osbourne and kids Kelly Osbourne and Jack Osbourne.) Ozzy was forced to push back the first dates of his tour in January 2019 due to illness. He encountered yet another setback in April 2019 when he fell and suffered a spinal injury for which he's since undergone three operations, stem cell treatments, physical therapy and Hybrid Assistive Limb treatment.
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In January 2020, Ozzy Osbourne — who used a cane to help his mobility as joined daughter Kelly Osbourne at the 2020 Grammy Awards a month later (pictured) — publicly announced that he has Parkinson's disease. He later confessed he'd actually been diagnosed with the nervous system disorder that affects movement many years prior — in 2003 — and had kept it a secret from his fans. "I'm not dying from Parkinson's," Ozzy told The Los Angeles Times. "I've been working with it most of my life. I've cheated death so many times. If tomorrow you read, 'Ozzy Osbourne never woke up this morning,' you wouldn't go, 'Oh, my God!' You'd go, 'Well, it finally caught up with him.'"
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Ozzy Osbourne kicked off the 2022 NFL Season with a Los Angeles Rams Halftime Show Performance in the midst of their game against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in September 2022 — then the next day, he released his 13th album, "Patient Number 9," which in 2023 won two Grammys — best rock album and best metal performance for its track "Degradation Rules."
Just a few months after this performance, Ozzy announced in January 2023 that he was canceling the European leg of his "No More Tours II" concert trek after two years of repeatedly postponing it, citing ongoing issues following a 2019 accident in which he suffered spinal damage. The announcement confirmed the end of his touring career, though he said he still hopes to take the stage for one-offs.
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Weeks before his 75th birthday in December 2023, Ozzy Osbourne — seen here in Santa Monica, California, in November 2023 — spoke to Rolling Stone U.K. about his feelings on aging and death.
"At best I've got 10 years left and when you're older, time picks up speed," he said. "Me and [wife] Sharon had our 41st wedding anniversary recently, and that's just unbelievable to me!"
Ozzy also lamented that "all my drinking partners" are "f****** dead," explaining, "I should have been dead way before loads of them. Why am I the last man standing? I don't understand any of it. Sometimes I look in the mirror and go, 'Why the f*** did you make it?!' I'm not boasting about any of it because I should have been dead a thousand times. I've had my stomach pumped God knows how many times."
Ozzy said he doesn't "fear dying," however, "I don't want to have a long, painful and miserable existence," he said. "I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to a place in Switzerland and get it done quickly."
