Ozzy. You may think of him as a drugged-out lunatic who sacrifices animals and eats dead frogs for supper while worshiping Satan. But then you don’t know the truth....

Trivia hunters eat this. Once Sabbath refused to play for a group of Satanists. The head witch of England back then (Alec Sanders who was a Sabbath fan) informed them that the Satanists had placed a hex on the band members. Ozzy actually got aluminum crosses made and had them blessed.

Sabbath’s record company knew about the incident and chose to put an upside down cross on the gatefold of their first album although the band members weren’t too keen on the artwork. Black Sabbath as satanic and dark as it sounds was NEVER ‘inspired’ by the devil.

Take the famous bat incident. At an Iowa concert someone threw a live bat on the stage during a performance. The bat lay still and Ozzy picked it up, THINKING IT WAS A TOY RUBBER BAT and bit into it taking off its head. The audience and Sharon (his wife) freaked and Ozzy was rushed to get rabies shots. Though it was a genuine mistake, the Animal Humane Society became involved and asked people to boycott Ozzy concerts. From this point on, he was marked a madman and his reputation began to precede him.

Three lawsuits have been launched against Ozzy claiming his lyrics had caused people to commit suicide. When Ozzy wrote the song 'Suicide Solution' his intentions were to talk about alcohol as a DEADLY LIQUID (solution = mixture) instead people confused solution with 'the answer'. If you are not familiar with Ozzy's lyrics and true intentions, I strongly suggest you read the lyrics. The song is clearly about the dangers of alcohol...only the title was misinterpreted.

Speak of the Devil: The cover showed a man spewing blood causing widespread alarm. But if you take a closer look at the album and listen to the songs it's another story altogether. Speak of the Devil is simply a live album boasting of early Black Sabbath material. There is absolutely no reference AT ALL to Satan. The closest Ozzy comes to evil (on that album or for that matter any other album) are songs such as Snowblind and Sweet Leaf which talk about drug usage. You can pull out all of Ozzy's albums, glance at the cover pictures (and album titles) and dismiss him as a devil worshipper.

I fail to see any truth to the Satanic rumours. I am an Ozzy fan, but I can assure you I have never seen anything, WHATSOEVER that leads me to believe Ozzy had any relationship with the devil. Black Sabbath was undoubtedly one of the bands, if not THE band, that created the genre of heavy metal. There are several tribute albums dedicated to Sabbath. Ozzy, himself, however, hates to be classified as a heavy metal artist. If you look at Ozzy's albums lately, they really aren't heavy metal. His albums contain a diverse mix of gentle ballads to hard-rocking songs with ear-splitting guitar licks. There are metalheads who listen to Metallica or Slayer but hate Ozzy. Then there are those who would give their right arm just to be meet the man. Classify his music as you will, the man deserves some credit for his part in music history.

True, he has led a life of ups and downs, much of it under the influence of various drugs (though he is now sober). He has been accused by just about every religious organisation to be a devil worshipper, a promoter of Satan's music etc. Yes, Ozzy's life has been surrounded by highs and lows, and it is quite likely that when he dies he will be remembered only as a lunatic madman. Who is the real John Osbourne? Nobody knows. But the John Osbourne that I know is just an ordinary man who likes role-playing.

It is painfully obvious that he is getting old though. He no longer jumps around like a wild man and his voice can no longer hit the high notes it once did. Nobody knows what lies ahead, but one thing I do know, Ozzy’s albums continue to sell millions and millions. I think even if Ozzy does karaoke in a wheelchair at a small bar, the crowds would come. I can only hope he will be around to entertain us for as long as possible. We love you Ozzy!

Manish@ManDorG