The prince of dark melody

John Michael Osbourne was obsessed with the Beatles. Better known by the sobriquet “Ozzy,” the cofounding lead singer of Black Sabbath who later turned uber-successful solo artist and still later became a reality TV star was deeply in love with the Fab Four. Osbourne passed away on July 22, 2025, at age 76.

- MIKE METTLER

A working-class lad from Birmingham, England, Osbourne saw music as his way out. Those Beatles records were the gateway. “I have such great respect for the Beatles,” he told me when we sat down together for an interview at Sony's New York City headquarters on May 20, 2010. “I can remember walking around the streets of Birmingham, proud, with a Beatles record sleeve under my arm. I bought those Beatles boots, too, and one of those cheap wigs. It wasn't even hair—it was a plastic f---ing cap! I had it all, man.” Picture if you will a longhaired teenage Osbourne ambling through Birmingham's rough-and-tumble streets in a faux Beatles wig. “Electric Funeral” indeed.

“The Beatles did give me the gift of melody, you know,” Ozzy continued. “In fact, you'll hear the Beatles in a lot of things of mine.” Cue up “Get Back” at the end of side 2 of the Beatles’ Let It Be from May 1970, then follow that with the title track to September 1970's Paranoid. Listen to how Ozzy's improvised vocals mirror Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's muscular, power-chord guitar line. Now substitute Paul McCartney's “Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner / But he knew it couldn't last” for “Finished with my woman /’Cause she couldn't help me with my mind,” but at a slightly faster clip to get the staccato enunciation parallel.

During our interview, I mentioned these similarities to Ozzy. “That's very interesting to hear,” he replied. “The Beatles had great harmonies, great melodies.”