It’s hard to imagine a hard rock world without Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away this week at the age of 76.
From his groundbreaking work with Black Sabbath to his breakout solo career and his turn as a reality TV star, Ozzy has left an indelible mark in popular culture.
I sat with Nick Carter from Los Angeles’ 95.5 Cross Radio. He knew him personally, but he discussed Ozzy’s immeasurable influence, his evolution from “the king’s prince” to a beloved elder politician, and his lasting legacy.
Q: Before the world knew him as Ozzy Osbourne, a solo artist or reality television figure, he was Ozzy in Black Sabbath. How shocked did the Black Sabbath have in the early days of heavy metals?
Nik Carter: It’s almost impossible to put his influence into context, as it’s almost impossible. He is part of the heavy metal framework, but he never flew the flag for heavy metal itself. He did not consider himself a metal artist. He considered himself a blues singer. His favorite band was the Beatles. I remember asking Sharon [Osbourne] About ten years ago, “How much does he realize? Does he know that he is Ozzy Osbourne?” And she said, “No, he doesn’t think about it. He was a working-class kid from Birmingham and you know, it was either somewhere working in a sawmill.”
But the impact of both Sabbath and Ozzy isn’t just about rock, metal and hard rock. Virtually anyone who wanted to pick up a microphone, drumstick, or guitar and make a fuss with those instruments was influenced by Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne himself. Every genre I could imagine was touched by him.
Ozzy Osbourne jokingly threatened Nick Carter with the award statue. (Nick Carter)
For me, I say this: I’m wearing my black life matter shirt here, Masters of Reality font on the Sabbath. I got this from BlackSabbath.com a few years ago. Because, as a man of colour, the heavy metal and hard rock community is the least open and unacceptable, just as people don’t want to admit it. I’ve been to thousands of shows in my career and I’ve been called n-words everywhere in my face. When the issues with black life began to arise, Ozzy and Sharon were among the first to say, “Well, we’re working on it. We’re part of it.” They supported it, and such continues so far for children who probably never even imagined. They don’t even see it as social justice in itself. They see it as “It’s okay, everyone, everyone. We’re all part of this global community that loves Ozzy.” You can’t beat it. The best educational tool in the world is just life.
Q: Ozzy was a bit scary in the early 80s. There were Motörhead and Dio, Iron Maiden, and certainly that kind of metal, including the Black Sabbath. It was dignified by its design. Fast forward to decades then, Ozzy Osbourne becomes more mainstream, less scary, and more like this elder politician. Tell us about his evolution from your perspective.
Carter: He has become an almost warm, vague and vague cultural ambassador, not just for music but also for pop culture in general, through his amazing sense of humor about shows like the Osbornes and himself, so people forget that they are afraid of him. This is a man who bites his head from a bat. He bites his head from the pigeon! He was really, really drunk, wearing one of his wife’s dresses, releasing himself with the Alamo, and was banned for ten years from there. He was a crazy man. He was an absolute wild man.
But over time, she really remade him with Sharon really steering his career in part. When the Osbornes were a very hit on MTV, he was still doing his Ozfest show. I remember telling both him and Sharon that he could see a change in his audience. You’ll go see Ozfest and see more minivans and family station wagons, and you’ll think, “Well, that’s going to be a long day for them.”
Musician Ozzy Osbourne will sign a copy of his album, “Patient Number 9,” on September 10, 2022, in Long Beach, California. (Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
I remember Ozzy telling me when he was doing the show – I had forgotten where it was, maybe Austin. He was in town and he was walking alone. He went to buy a cup of coffee and a few children, perhaps an older woman with a family, looked at him on the street and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?” He said, “Oh, you know, I’m in town for the show.” “What kind of show?” She had come to Ozzy by the Osbornes and didn’t know he was the voice of heavy metal. So, when she said he was there for the concert, she was totally umb-worn.
Q: Do you think there are bigger figures in Hard Rock and Metal than Ozzy Osbourne, or do you think there were?
Carter: It’s definitely not. I don’t think there was. I know it’s a cliché, but in addition to the fact that he is such a character and such a pop culture presence, there is never another person like him. It was a kind of other world. It was pleasant and just jarring. You go back to those early Black Sabbath albums, and it’s just like, “What is this moan coming from the speaker?” And of course, throughout the 80s, when he really became a superstar, I was telling someone else, he was wearing sequins and dressed like Liberus.
He was one of the few artists who were able to cross that bridge between the ’70s and ‘Rock’ and roll’ or classic rock, and was able to thrive in the ’80s and the visual period of MTV. This country loves Act 2. How many acts did he have? The 70s and 80s with Black Sabbath as a solo superstar, the 90s and early 00s as part of the hard rock and metal elder politician with Ozfest and of course, the huge pop culture phenome with Osborne, essentially the squeeze of the MTV generation.
Q: What do you think about the way he goes out?
Carter: You know, I might be one of the few people who literally sat down and saw all 9 hours of “Back to the Beginning” concerts. I woke up early, went to my computer and I saw everything. I think everyone knew he would leave us soon. I don’t think anyone would imagine him leaving us anytime soon.
The last time I faced him, I think it was 2019 and I remember his speech being more keen than I ever remembered. His eyes were very clear, but he had a slight trembling in his right hand. He was totally clear. He makes more sense than I think I’ve actually spoken to me on ten or so times when I’ve actually hang out with him. But you know, I saw something there.
It was one of these things that he united the world and he left us. One thing that’s not actually made public is that whenever Sharon Osborne and Ozzy are involved in this big thing, a money-making venture, there’s always a charity component. And then, that “Back to the Beginning” show, the last check, I think it generated $190 million for the charity. That’s unprecedented.
But at the end of the day he was a man with a truly vague mind. Every time I spoke to him, he would always say, “God bless you, man.” The last word from his mouth, he gave me a hug, he says, “God bless you, man.” I really loved the cross and had it everywhere. As I say, a lot of it was a shtick, but I think he had a really good and genuine heart.
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