Ozzy Osbourne's Musical Legacy

 

 

I had the opportunity to see Black Sabbath when they played at the First Ontario Centre in 2016. Hamilton, Ontario, and the show was marvelous. I saw Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and the drummer Tommy Clufetos. As usual, Ozzy with his Brummie accent had stage antics, and he threw buckets of water at the audience during performances. He sang "Black Sabbath," "War Pigs," "Iron Man," and "Paranoid," and the audience was electrified. I could see Ozzy's fragility, and he was getting weak. But his voice was still metallic. Ozzy's hunched posture was noticeable. Ozzy Osbourne is known as the godfather of heavy metal. Ozzy and his clan performed with loud, distorted guitars, powerful rhythms, and aggressive vocals. His songs touched on anarchy, darkness, and fantasy. His song "War Pigs can be considered an anti-war song. Ironically, it was the time the Vietnam War took a dramatic turn, with significant events including the Cambodian incursion, the Kent State shootings, and the Sơn Tây raid. "Paranoid" is a metaphorical expression of depression, anxiety, and feelings of isolation. His controversial song “Suicide Solution” was about someone slowly killing themselves through alcoholism. His songs had deep meaning and needed deconstruction. Why did Ozzy use the name Prince of Darkness, which is a term used in John Milton's poem Paradise Lost referring to Satan as the embodiment of evil? However, it became part of his brand. Ozzy Osbourne's musical legacy would shape the sound and themes of heavy metal and would influence generations of musicians to come.