Ozzy Osbourne will without end be remembered because the Prince of Darkness — however even in demise, his notorious 1982 bat-biting incident might be cemented in rock historical past.
The Black Sabbath frontman died on Tuesday, July 22, surrounded by his family members on the age of 76, The Submit confirmed.
“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. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the household mentioned in an announcement.
The assertion was signed by Osbourne’s spouse of over 40 years, Sharon, their three youngsters, daughters Kelly, 40, and Aimee, 41, and son Jack, 39.
It additionally included the musician’s different son, Louis, whom he shared along with his first spouse, Thelma Riley, however not the rocker’s two different children: Jessica, 45, or Elliot Kingsley, whom he adopted with Thelma.
Whereas the heavy steel god was a superb musician, his points with substance abuse, his household’s wacky dynamic taking part in out on one of many first actuality reveals, MTV’s “The Osbournes,” and his well being battles in recent times (he had been recognized with Parkinson’s illness) usually took middle stage.
Nevertheless, he was additionally chargeable for one of many wildest moments in rock ’n’ roll historical past — biting the pinnacle off an actual bat over 40 years in the past.
The wild occasion unfolded on Jan. 20, 1982, on the Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium throughout his “Diary of a Madman” tour.
On the time, the rocker developed a sickening ritual the place he’d throw uncooked meat at concertgoers and so they’d toss no matter weird merchandise they snuck into the present proper again.
Throughout this efficiency specifically, somebody chucked a real-life bat on the stage, which the Black Sabbath singer mistakenly thought was pretend.
To the viewers’s horror, Osbourne’s mouth crammed with blood, and he instantly knew he had been fooled.
The “Paranoid” singer spoke concerning the cringe second in his 2020 documentary, “The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne.”
“I thought it was a rubber bat,” he recalled. “I picked it up, put it in my mouth, crunched down, bit into it, being the clown that I am.”
Noting that bats “are the biggest carriers of rabies in the world,” Osbourne defined what unfolded after.
“I had to go to the hospital afterward and get rabies shots, one in each rear,” he continued.
Relating to why he determined to throw sickening issues like uncooked meat at his followers within the first place, Osbourne shared, “I at all times appreciated outdated films that used to have these custard-pie fights.
“It gave me this idea to throw, instead of pie, bits of meat and animal parts into the audience. I thought it was hilarious. [They’d throw back] sheep testicles, live snakes, dead rats, all kinds of things. Someone once threw a live frog onstage. It was the biggest frog I’d ever seen, and it landed on its back,” he mentioned.
The bat-biting debacle launched Osbourne into mainstream fame, even touchdown him on “The David Letterman Show.”
Nevertheless, Osbourne quickly grew bored with the gag.
“It got to the point where people expected me to do crazier and crazier things,” he recalled. “I’ll tell you what, guys — it ain’t fun when you get them rabies shots.”
A concertgoer named Mark Neal of Des Moines later got here out and claimed he was the one who threw the bat onstage to Osbourne. He alleged it was lifeless already, based on an area report.
“It really freaked me out,” Neal mentioned. “I won’t get in any trouble for admitting this, will I?”
However he didn’t cease at bats.
Osbourne reportedly snorted ants in 1984 whereas on tour with Mötley Crüe after allegedly operating out of cocaine. Whereas the Black Sabbath legend mentioned he didn’t bear in mind the incident, infamous dangerous boy Tommy Lee later swore it was “full-on true.”
“At that time, it was just kind of a thing — everybody was into [trying to] out-rock star and out-gross somebody out, like out-partying,” Lee recalled on “This Past Weekend With Theo Von” in 2024.
“So Ozzy’s wasted. He sees there’s a little trail of ants going all the way to this kid’s popsicle that he left on the ground. And Ozzy looks down and f–king just snorts the line of ants going to the popsicle.”
Lee additionally claimed that Osbourne later “licked” the band’s bassist Nikki Sixx’s urine.
“Nikki goes to pee on the ground and Nikki’s gonna lick up his own piss to outdo Ozzy. And before Nikki could do it, Ozzy f–king beats him to it and licks up his piss. And we’re, like, ‘All right, Ozzy. You win. You win, dude,’” the drummer added.
Osbourne additionally famously bit off a dove’s head in 1981 in entrance of a gaggle of executives whereas celebrating a brand new CBS Information deal. He recalled the state of affairs in his 2011 autobiography, “I Am Ozzy.”
He confirmed up with two doves with the intent for them to be a peace providing; nonetheless, he obtained “pissed off” and ended up biting the pinnacle off one of many doves and reportedly spat it at a publicist.
“The [boss] of legal said, ‘If you ever do that again, we will absolutely destroy you,’” Sharon later revealed of the incident.
Whereas tributes proceed to pour in from music legends, together with Elton John, Gene Simmons, Metallica and extra, neither Sharon, Kelly nor Jack has launched particular person statements about Osbourne’s demise.
