Ozzy Osbourne

===Black Sabbath===
{{Main|Black Sabbath}}
[[File:Black Sabbath (Iommi, Osbourne, Ward and Butler).JPG|thumb|Osbourne (bottom left) with [[Black Sabbath]] in 1972]]
In late 1967, [[Geezer Butler]] formed his first band, Rare Breed, and recruited Osbourne to serve as its vocalist.<ref name="I Am Ozzy" /> The band played two shows, and then broke up. Osbourne and Butler reunited in another band, Polka Tulk Blues, which included guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] and drummer [[Bill Ward (musician)|Bill Ward]], whose band [[Mythology (UK band)|Mythology]] recently broke up. They renamed the band Earth. But after being accidentally booked for a show instead of a different band with the same name, they decided to change the band's name again, settling on the name [[Black Sabbath]] in August 1969. The band's name was inspired by [[Black Sabbath (film)|the film of the same title]].<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web | last = Ankeny | first = Jason | title=Biography-Geezer Butler | url = {{AllMusic |class=artist|id =p61332| pure_url =yes}} | access-date =10 July 2010}}</ref> Black Sabbath noticed how people enjoyed being frightened during their appearances, which inspired their decision to play a heavy [[blues]] style of music laced with gloomy sounds and lyrics.<ref name="Allmusic-Weber">{{cite web |last=Weber |first=Barry |title=Ozzy Osbourne Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ozzy-osbourne-mn0000424244/biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |year=2007 |access-date=17 February 2008 |archive-date=18 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818095018/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ozzy-osbourne-mn0000424244/biography |url-status=live  }}</ref> While recording their first album, Butler read an [[occult]] book and woke up seeing a dark figure at the end of his bed. Butler told Osbourne about it, and together they wrote the lyrics to "[[Black Sabbath (song)|Black Sabbath]]", their first song in a darker vein.<ref>Osbourne, Ozzy (2010). ''I Am Ozzy''.</ref><ref name= "black sabbath">{{cite web | last = Ruhlmann | first = William |title = Black Sabbath – Biography|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id =p3693| pure_url =yes}} |publisher= All music |year=2003|access-date=17 February 2008}}</ref>

The band's U.S. record label, [[Warner Bros. Records]], invested only modestly in it, but Black Sabbath met with swift and enduring success. Built around Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, Geezer Butler's [[lyrics]], Bill Ward's dark tempo drumbeats, and topped by Osbourne's eerie vocals, their [[Black Sabbath (album)|debut album ''Black Sabbath'']] and ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]'' were commercially successful and also gained considerable radio airplay. Osbourne recalls, however, that, "in those days, the band wasn't very popular with the women".<ref name = "I Am Ozzy"/>

At about this time, Osbourne first met his future wife, [[Sharon Osbourne|Sharon Arden]].<ref name="I Am Ozzy" /> After the unexpected success of their first album, Black Sabbath were considering her father, [[Don Arden]], as their new manager, and Sharon was at that time working as Don's receptionist.<ref name="I Am Ozzy" /> Osbourne admits he was attracted to her immediately but assumed that "she probably thought I was a lunatic".<ref name="I Am Ozzy" /> Osbourne later recalled that the best thing about eventually choosing Don Arden as manager was that he got to see Sharon regularly, though their relationship was strictly professional at that point.<ref name="I Am Ozzy" />

Just five months after the release of ''Paranoid'', the band released ''[[Master of Reality]]''. The album reached the top ten in both the United States and UK, and was certified gold in less than two months.<ref name=MOR>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=master%20of%20reality&artist=black%20sabbath&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25|title=RIAA Gold & Platinum database-"Master of Reality"|website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]|access-date=22 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808210738/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=master%20of%20reality&artist=black%20sabbath&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25|archive-date=8 August 2013}}</ref> In the 1980s, it received platinum certification<ref name=MOR/> and went Double Platinum in the early 21st&nbsp;century.<ref name=MOR/> Reviews of the album were unfavourable. [[Lester Bangs]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' famously dismissed ''Master of Reality'' as "naïve, simplistic, repetitive, absolute [[doggerel]]", although the very same magazine would later place the album at number 298 on their 500&nbsp;Greatest Albums of All Time list, compiled in 2003.<ref name="Master of Reality Album Review">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21209|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726103759/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/2747/21209|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 July 2010|title=Master of Reality Rolling Stone Review|magazine=Rollingstone.com|access-date=13 October 2014}}</ref> 

In September 1972, Black Sabbath released ''[[Black Sabbath Vol. 4]]''. Critics were dismissive of the album, but it reached gold status in less than a month and was the band's fourth consecutive album to sell over one million copies in the United States.<ref name="AMG Biography">{{cite web |title=AMG Biography |last=Ruhlmann|first= William |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3693|pure_url=yes}} |website=AllMusic |access-date=14 February 2008}}</ref><ref name=V4>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=BLACK%20SABBATH%20-%20VOL.%204&artist=black%20sabbath&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25|title=RIAA Gold & Platinum database-"Vol. 4"|website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]|access-date=22 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151606/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>

In November 1973, Black Sabbath released the critically acclaimed ''[[Sabbath Bloody Sabbath]]''. For the first time, the band received favourable reviews in the mainstream press. Gordon Fletcher of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' called the album "an extraordinarily gripping affair" and "nothing less than a complete success".<ref>{{cite web|last=Fletcher |first=Gordon |title=''Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath'' Album Review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blacksabbath/albums/album/227113/review/5946174/sabbath_bloody_sabbath |work=14 February 1974 |access-date=25 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230064106/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blacksabbath/albums/album/227113/review/5946174/sabbath_bloody_sabbath |archive-date=30 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Decades later, ''[[AllMusic]]'s'' Eduardo Rivadavia called the album a "masterpiece, essential to any heavy metal collection", while also claiming the band displayed "a newfound sense of finesse and maturity".<ref name="SBS AMG Review">{{cite web| last=Rivadavia|first= Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r2002|pure_url=yes}} |title=Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath AMG Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=25 February 2008}}</ref> The album marked the band's fifth consecutive platinum selling album in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=SABBATH,%20BLOODY%20SABBATH&artist=Black%20Sabbath&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25|title=RIAA Gold & Platinum database-''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath''|website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]|access-date=22 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151606/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> ''[[Sabotage (Black Sabbath album)|Sabotage]]'' was released in July 1975. Again there were favourable reviews. ''Rolling Stone'' stated, "''Sabotage'' is not only Black Sabbath's best record since ''Paranoid'', it might be their best ever."<ref>{{cite magazine|date=25 September 1975 |last=Altman |first=Billy |title=''Sabotage'' Album Review |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blacksabbath/albums/album/170807/review/5946986/sabotage |access-date=25 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231125738/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blacksabbath/albums/album/170807/review/5946986/sabotage |archive-date=31 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In a retrospective review, AllMusic was less favourable, noting that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as ''Paranoid'' and ''Volume&nbsp;4'' so special was beginning to disintegrate".<ref name="AMG Sabotage">{{cite web |last=Prato|first= Greg |title=''Sabotage'' AMG Album Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r2003|pure_url=yes}} |website=AllMusic |access-date=20 March 2008}}</ref> ''[[Technical Ecstasy]]'', released on 25 September 1976, was also met with mixed reviews. AllMusic gives the album two stars, and notes that the band was "unravelling at an alarming rate".<ref name="TE AMG Review">{{cite web| last=Prato|first= Greg |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r2004|pure_url=yes}} |title=Technical Ecstasy AMG Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=17 March 2008}}</ref>

====Dismissal====
[[File:Ozzy Osbourne 1973.JPG|thumb|Osbourne in 1973]]
In 1978, Osbourne left the band for three months to pursue a solo project called ''Blizzard of Ozz'',<ref name="Necromandus">{{cite web| author=Pete Sarfas (Taken from the CD reissue of "Orexis of Death plus...") (AACD 051), March 2005| url=http://www.alexgitlin.com/npp/necromandus.htm |title=Necromandus|publisher=alexgitlin.com}}</ref> a title which had been suggested by his father.<ref name="Daisley1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bobdaisley.com/interview/website|title=Bob Daisley's History with the Osbournes|publisher=Bobdaisley.com|access-date=11 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515122125/http://www.bobdaisley.com/interview/website|archive-date=15 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Three members of the band [[Necromandus]], who had supported Sabbath in Birmingham when they were called ''Earth'', backed Osbourne in the studio and briefly became the first incarnation of his solo band.

At the request of the other band members, Osbourne rejoined Sabbath.<ref name="Necr2">{{cite web |url=http://www.fenderstrat.co.uk/Necromandus.htm |title=Cumbrian Bands of the Seventies: Necromandus |publisher=Btinternet.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630225054/http://www.btinternet.com/%7Efenderstrat2/Necromandus.htm |archive-date=30 June 2012 |access-date=30 March 2016 }}</ref> The band spent five months at Sounds Interchange Studios in [[Toronto]], where they wrote and recorded their next album, ''[[Never Say Die!]]'' "It took quite a long time", Iommi said of ''Never Say Die!'' "We were getting really drugged out, doing a lot of dope. We'd go down to the sessions, and have to pack up because we were too stoned; we'd have to stop. Nobody could get anything right; we were all over the place, and everybody was playing a different thing. We'd go back and sleep it off, and try again the next day."<ref>Hoskyns, Barney (2009). "Into the Void: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath". Omnibus Press.</ref>

In May 1978, Black Sabbath began touring in support of ''Never Say Die!'' with [[Van Halen]] as an opening act. Reviewers called Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired" in stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time.<ref name="MusicMight">{{cite web|last=Sharpe-Young|first=Garry|url=http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+midlands/birmingham/black+sabbath|title=MusicMight.com Black Sabbath Biography|publisher=MusicMight.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052617/http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+midlands/birmingham/black+sabbath|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> The band recorded their concert at [[Hammersmith Odeon]] in June 1978, which was released on video as ''[[Never Say Die (video)|Never Say Die]]''. The final show of the tour and Osbourne's last appearance with Black Sabbath for another seven years, until 1985, was in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] on 11 December.

In 1979, Black Sabbath returned to the studio, but tension and conflict arose between band members. Osbourne recalls being asked to record his vocals over and over, and tracks were manipulated endlessly by Iommi.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Osbourne | first1 = Ozzy | author-link1 = Ozzy Osbourne | last2 = Ayres | first2 = Chris | title = I Am Ozzy | year = 2010 | publisher = Grand Central Publishing | isbn = 978-0-446-56989-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/iamozzy0000osbo }}</ref> The relationship between Osbourne and Iommi became contentious. On 27 April 1979, at Iommi's insistence but with the support of Butler and Ward, Osbourne was ejected from Black Sabbath.<ref name="I Am Ozzy" /> The reasons provided to him were that he was unreliable and had excessive [[substance abuse]] issues compared to the other members. Osbourne claims his drug use and alcohol consumption at that time was neither better nor worse than that of the other members.<ref name = IAmOzzy/>

The band replaced Osbourne with former [[Rainbow (rock band)|Rainbow]] singer [[Ronnie James Dio]].<ref name="black sabbath"/> In a 21 August 1987 interview with [[Tommy Vance]] on [[BBC Radio 1]]'s ''[[Friday Rock Show]]'', Dio said, "I was not, and never will be, Ozzy Osbourne. He was the vocalist and songwriter in that era who helped create that band and make it what it was, and what it is in its classic form."<ref>Ronnie James Dio interview with [[Tommy Vance]] for [[BBC Radio 1]]'s ''[[Friday Rock Show]]''; broadcast 21 August 1987; transcribed by editor Peter Scott for Sabbath [[fanzine]] ''Southern Cross'' #11, October 1996, p27</ref>

The conflict between Iommi and Osbourne commenced almost immediately in their working collaboration. Responding to a 1969 flyer that read, "Ozzy Zig Needs Gig- has own PA",<ref>{{cite episode |title= "Heavy Metal" |series= Seven Ages of Rock|station= [[Yesterday (TV channel)|Yesterday]] |airdate= 5 March 2009|minutes= 8}}</ref> which was posted by Osbourne in a record store, Iommi and Ward arrived at the listed address to speak with Ozzy Zig, as he then called himself. When Iommi saw Osbourne emerge from another room of the house, he recalled that he knew him as a "pest" from their school days.<ref name = "I Am Ozzy"/> Following Black Sabbath's formation, Iommi reportedly "punched out" Osbourne several times over the years when the singer's drunken antics became too much to take.<ref>''Black Sabbath'' book, by Chris Welch. Published June 1982. {{ISBN|978-0862760151}}</ref> Iommi recalls one incident in the early 1970s in which Osbourne and Butler were fighting in a hotel room. Iommi pulled Osbourne off Butler in an attempt to break up the drunken fight, and the vocalist proceeded to turn around and take a wild swing at him. Iommi responded by knocking Osbourne unconscious with one punch to the jaw.<ref name="iommibook">{{cite book |last=Iommi |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Iommi |title=Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath |url=https://archive.org/details/ironmanmyjourney00iomm_0 |url-access=registration |year=2011 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0306819551}}</ref>