METAL PERSONIFIED

Bats, black masses and debauchery... Ozzy Osbourne flung open the gates of hell and took us inside. Mark Beaumont examines a rock'n'roll life that balanced chaos with charisma

- By Mark Beaumont

And so the Prince of Darkness, long famed for his startling entrances – emerging from replica gothic castles, opening record label meetings by biting the head off a dove – makes the grandest exit of them all. Just two weeks before his death, Ozzy Osbourne rose from the stage at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham for his final show, resplendent on a black throne crowned with bat wings. He was unable to stand due to his deteriorating health, but still more than capable of captivating a stadium with his maniacal glare and wild, lycanthropic performance.

All day, at an event dubbed Back to the Beginning, this writer had watched rock icon after rock icon take the stage to pay tribute to Osbourne and Black Sabbath, the original lineup reforming for the first time in 20 years to mark Ozzy's last stand. Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Steven Tyler, Tool, Slayer, Billy Corgan, Tom Morello and dozens more put all status and ego aside to perform the music and hail the influence of this heavy metal originator and figurehead.

“I will get back on stage if it fucking kills me, because if I can't do it then that's what's gonna happen anyway, I'm gonna fucking die,” he told The Independent, during a period he would later describe as being “laid up” for six years.

That Ozzy got his wish, and amid such a loud and star-studded outpouring of affection - arguably the most momentous single gig in metal history - was an amazingly Hollywood ending for a life and career of such drama, delirium and dark chaos. Such cultural significance, too. After all, barely a handful of musicians could be said to have both originated and encapsulated a vastly successful genre that changed music forever. Ozzy Osbourne was among them.