Growing up with heavy metal: Finding Ozzy

Ozzy Osbourne has been my musical spirit guide for most of my life. It all started with Black Sabbath; as a child, they captivated me – Ozzy’s voice cutting like a banshee through Sabbath’s dark and doomy mix. In fact, one of my first memories is being mesmerised by ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ whilst watching the Vertigo label on my dad's ‘Paranoid’ record go round and round. No doubt, this hypnotic experience is the root cause of my diehard love for Sabbath.

As a teen, with one of many Ozzy/Sabbath shirts I'd come to own

Then, when I first discovered I could sing, I styled my vocals on Ozzy’s. Throughout my teens, I belted out Ozzy and Black Sabbath songs in my bedroom and eventually on stage. When my band recorded our EP, people said I sounded like Ozzy, which I thought was high praise indeed. Since then, I’ve diversified my vocals but I’m still proud that I can sing like Ozzy on demand. It goes down a treat at karaoke!

As a teen, my life revolved around Ozzy so much that I organised my whole Year 11 work experience week with Sony Music in Sydney, with the sole intention of getting close to the people working for Ozzy's ‘Epic’ label. I had heaps of fun, got to do amazing things and gained a lot of experience, but the best bit was that they gave me an autographed No More Tears–era photo and two pieces of unplayed vinyl — the Randy Rhoads Tribute and a Diary of a Madman picture disc from the Sony Music archive.

I was also a massive fan of ‘Live & Loud’ — Ozzy's 1993 double live album from the ‘No More Tours’ tour – and I thought I’d never get to see that perfect line up of Zakk Wylde, Randy Castillo, and Mike Inez live. When Ozzy finally came to Australia in 1998, he should've toured with guitarist Joe Holmes, which would've been fine and was what we were all expecting, but he actually toured with a reunified ‘No More Tours’ line-up — the dream team. I couldn't believe it. I was in shock, and it was incredible; one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I was at the front of the mosh. I’ll never forget the energy and the pure joy of watching Ozzy and this hallowed band perform right in front of me. It’s an experience that’s never been matched, not even by a reformed Black Sabbath 15 years later.

Back when I also had long hair...

So, Ozzy really has been part of my musical journey from the start, and he’s always been crazy, hilarious, and inspirational.

Thank you, John Michael Osbourne, for everything you did for everyone: spreading your music, your charity, and your love. You were the consummate showman who wanted to keep performing right to the end – to die on stage, which you pretty much did. What an incredible end to an extraordinary life.

You were a gentleman and a superstar, and we'll miss you.

See you on the other side, Ozzy...

The resemblance... uncanny, right?!