Between Black Sabbath and his solo career, Ozzy Osbourne became one of the most famous frontmen in hard rock history. Here’s a look back from 1969 through his death in 2025.
Just weeks before, Osbourne had starred in a all-star farewell concert topped by a final performance with Black Sabbath in their hometown of Birmingham. Osbourne revealed he had Parkinson’s disease in 2020, some 17 years after first being diagnosed. “It’s not a death sentence,” he said before releasing two more studio albums.
By the time he appeared at that final show, however, Osbourne was singing from a throne. “Parkinson’s is a progressive disease,” his wife Sharon Osbourne said earlier in 2025. “It’s not something you can stabilize. It affects different parts of the body, and it’s affected his legs – but his voice is as good as it’s ever been.”
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Osbourne’s solo career happened out of the blue when he was fired from Black Sabbath for excessive substance abuse. He soon hooked up with rising guitar wunderkind Randy Rhoads for Blizzard of Ozz.
That arguably brought him greater fame – and more than his share of controversial moments – than he enjoyed in Black Sabbath, with whom he periodically reunited. Along the way, he went from being perceived as responsible for societal ills to a much-loved celebrity.
He had several commercial peaks and valleys but Osbourne remained in the public eye. He even became a reality TV star in the ’00s with the success of MTV’s The Osbournes, which brought us inside his life with his wife Sharon and their children, Jack and Kelly.
The gallery below reflects every side of Osbourne that we saw, from album covers to concerts to red-carpet moments with his family.
Ozzy Osbourne Year by Year Photos: 1969-2025
Between Black Sabbath and his solo career, Ozzy Osbourne became one of the most famous frontmen in hard rock history. Here’s a look back.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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