We all knew this day would come. We just didn’t know it would be today.
Only a couple weeks after his final concert, Ozzy has joined his bandmates in Rock and Roll Heaven.
I really don’t have the words. You’d think I’d be prepared for this. I was not. The biggest loss in metal, ever?
I’ll think of more to say later.
Rest in Peace, Ozzy.
I played Bark At the Moon and No Rest for the Wicked on the weekend. MY albums. MY Ozzy.
Ozzy – that guy who I thought was “crazy”! He looked scary to a 12 year old.
Then I saw a picture of him in a cowboy hat. “He doesn’t look so scary.”
He wasn’t.
Ozzy wasn’t the prince of darkness. He was the clown prince of metal, and I think he loved it that way. Joking, pulling faces, making people laugh just as hard as he made them rock. Ozzy was my companion during the awkward teenage misfit years. Ozzy was cool without being cool. He was simply Ozzy. There was only one. He couldn’t be replaced in Black Sabbath. Any time they tried, they embarked on a new journey, because you cannot replace Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy had a knack for a melody, and impeccable taste in guitar players. From Randy Rhoads to Jake E. Lee to Zakk Wylde, he made them famous.
Ozzy’s real talent was as a facilitator of talent. He brought together drummers, bassists and guitarists. He formed bands that we still talk about today, from the original Blizzard of Ozz to the Wylde/Butler/Castillo lineup that is my personal favourite. His knack for bringing people together, both in bands and in audiences was unparalleled.
There will NEVER be another Ozzy. Only pretenders to the throne.
Rest in peace.
mikeladano.com 
Thanks for sharing this, Mike. Best wishes to his family too. Henry.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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I played his stuff on the weekend. I am crushed.
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So true Mike, there will never be another Ozzy.
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I am so sad Michael.
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As your dad said “I’m surprised he lived as long as he did.”Sent from my iPad
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It appears the Parkinsons was just too much.
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Time for an Ozzy binge.
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I sang Ozzy ballads the whole way home. Windows DOWN!
I started with See You On the Other Side
Then, Old LA Tonight
So Tired
Tonight
Four songs all top of my lungs.
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I went straight for The Ultimate Sin. Drop Db thump.
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That song would have been even more heavy and boss without Nevison the neutering knucklehead.
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The shitty thing is, Harrison will wake up to a message from me about changing Friday’s topic, and he will only then know what has happened. Same with Peter Kerr and Ash Geisler.
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Is Harrison into Ozzy?
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Played Ultimate Sin on the way home as that was the album that turned me on to him back when it came out (thanks to MTV playing “Shot in the Dark”.
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Listened to The Ozzman Cometh today.
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Just like when EVH went, it was like “yeah, I knew this would happen” but it still hits like a semi-truck to the gut. I got into Black Sabbath in the 5th grade, Paranoid changed my life. Randy Rhoads (who went to Burbank High in the same grade as my beloved, late aunt Debbie) was a huge influence. Nothing would have been the way it was without Ozzy. His Sabbath years and Rhoads solo stuff gave a misfit kid like me an outlet just like punk. I also had the coolest Mom in the world allowing me to listen to him. Say Hi to Randy for me Ozzy.
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And Lee Kerslake, and Randy Castillo too! And anyone else that Ozzy knew and loved but now gone.
Very touching here Derek. Thanks for sharing. I have a grandma story about Ozzy that I was saving for when grandma eventually passes, but I will probably use it on the show tomorrow.
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Yeah if it hadn’t been for the bullies that forced me to change schools, I would’ve been able to say I went to Randy Rhoads’ high school, just have to settle for going to the city college where Van Halen formed haha.
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