7-27-25: Remembering Ozzy

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I remember my earliest exposure to the Ozzman: it was back in 7th grade in band, and we had a series of songs for pep rallies and the one football game we'd play at. One of the included tunes was "Crazy Train", and after we practiced it, I decided to listen to the real thing, and it's safe to say that it's been a badass song since I first heard it.

There were a couple other Ozzy songs that I heard and became familiar with, such as "Shot in the Dark", and I eventually learned that he was the lead singer of the fabled Black Sabbath, the pioneers of their genre. In high school, Paranoid was my favorite Sabbath album, partly because it was the only one I cared to listen too, but it's got a lot of great songs on it, and I came across it after hearing "Paranoid" in I think the gym in P.E. in 8th grade, and I was simply entranced by the song. I recall listening to select tracks from Paranoid on the bus rides to and from some of our football games while I was at my old high school.

It was only this year that I started taking an acute interest in Black Sabbath; I have a doctor lady in a town about an hour and a half from here, so going down under the blanket of the cold, early morning for that first appointment in February, I threw on the self titled album where it all started. Next thing you know, listening to Sabbath albums became something of a tradition even though I only did it like two more times.

I watched Back to the Beginning with the rest of my family while I was back home for the Fourth, and that was such a fantastic performance by Ozzy, Sabbath, and all the other bands that perfomed. Then, two Fridays ago, I was going down the road listenin to an Ozzy song, watching the sun set, and that next Tuesday I got a text from my mother as I was leaving work driving down the interstate.

Ozzy Osbourne has changed the face of not just rock but music as a whole, and he changed the world as well. So many bands cite Ozzy and Sabbath as a key influence, and all those bands at Back to the Beginning are only a few, the Prince of Darkness spawned a whole new area of music with countless bands withing each genre and subgenre that unite under the label of Heavy Metal.

God bless you, Ozzy Osbourne, we will certainly see you on the other side.