Agencies London

Ozzy Osbourne, whose ‘Prince of Darkness’ image made him one of the most iconic rock frontmen of all time, has died at age 76. He was one of the most notorious figures in rock known for outrageous antics on stage: an innovator whose eerie wail helped usher in hea­vy metal, a showman who on­ce bit the head off a bat he believed to be a stage prop, an addict whose substance abuse led him to attempt to murder his wife, and later, a reality TV star much loved for his bemusement at family life on The Osbournes.

A heavy drug user, Osbourne admitted to killing 17 family cats in the early 1980s. Whenever he spoke about the episode, he described it as a turning point in his battle with addiction. He also claimed to have bitten the heads off two doves during a 1981 record label meeting that went sour.

Though he was sober from 2013, he openly detailed his antics while experimenting with drugs. He gave up taking psychedelic drug LSD in the 1970s after a conversation with a horse while on a trip. Ano­ther outlandish moment was when he snorted a trail of ants while on tour with Motley Crue in 1984. 

His death came 3 weeks after his retirement from performance. On 5 July, Osbourne reunited with bandmates in the pioneering group Black Sabbath for the first time since 2005 for a farewell concert. Tributes poured in on Wednesday from fans and members of Black Sabbath, who posted a photo of Osbourne with the caption “Ozzy forever”. Other celebrities  like Elton John, David Beckham, and Rod Stewart also paid their respects.

He was born in Birmingham in 1948, the son of a pair of factory workers. He had a tough upbringing, as well as living in relative poverty. As a minor, he was repeatedly sexually abused by two boys. He was also jailed for burglary: “I was no good at that. F**king useless,” he admitted later.

Osbourne was inspired by The Beatles, crediting the Fab Four’s 1963 smash ‘She Loves You’ for his becoming a musician. The industrial working-class environment fed into the sound of his defining musical project, Black Sabbath, whose heavy sound revolutionised British rock music. The band, also featuring Tony Iommi on guitar and Bill Ward on drums, released self-titled debut in 1970, followed by albums regarded as foundation stones of the heavy-metal genre. Paranoid (1970) featuring Iron Man and War Pigs topped the UK album chart, while the ca­cophonous, psychedelic sou­nd of Master of Reality (1971) rem­ains a huge influence on the slower sound of doom metal.