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Ozzy Osbourne 1948-2025

The wild life & tragic death of a rock god.

By Rachel DeSantis in People

n a moment years in the making, Ozzy Osbourne was sitting atop a bat-bedecked throne, performing for 40,000 people in his native Birmingham, England. "You have no idea how I feel," Osbourne, whose hard-rocking catalog helped put heavy metal on the map in the 1970s, told the crowd on July 5, when he played a farewell concert with Black Sabbath. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

It was an emotional homecoming for the British star, who seamlessly bridged the gap between menacing Black Sabbath frontman and foulmouthed but softhearted family man on MTV's The Osbournes. And a fitting farewell. Just 17 days later Osbourne, who had battled Parkinson's disease for more than two decades, was dead. "There was a point when we were all clapping and crying, and he was trying to get out of that throne, trying to stand up," says Lzzy Hale, whose band Halestorm also played at the concert. "That's the beauty of music. I bet you that he could fly in that moment. I think that this was exacting how he wanted to end that chapter." To play the show, a determined Osbourne undertook months of training to build strength. "It brought his career full circle," a source close to the family says.

Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76 in Buckinghamshire, England. Despite his illness, the star's death was a surprise: Just days earlier his daughter, Kelly, 40, had assured fans that Osbourne was "not dying" and slammed rumors that he and wife Sharon, 72, had made a suicide pact. Authorities said an emergency air ambulance was dispatched to Osbourne's home, and medics provided "advanced critical care" to the rocker, whose cause of death was later determined to be from "cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infection, coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease," according to his death certificate. "Ozzy's final days were spent in England, surrounded by family, music and in the place he called home," the source says. "He was in peace. [Sharon's] deepest hope was fulfilled." The source adds that Sharon is "heartbroken but very proud of the life the family built together. There's a lot of pain but also a lot of comfort from the family time that they got to enjoy up until the very end."

In 1968 he and three friends formed Black Sabbath. After releasing their self-titled debut two years later, the rockers earned a devoted following that would stick by them for the next five decades and propel them into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006; Osbourne was inducted as a solo artist in 2024. Hits like "Iron Man" and "Paranoid" helped Black Sabbath gain mainstream fame, as did Osbourne's persona as a outrageous, stunt-pulling frontman with a knack for drawing the ire of conservative groups. Nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, he would regularly ask for 10 lbs. of raw liver on concert nights so he could toss it to his zealous fans. Black Sabbath fought back against accusations of devil worship, which Osbourne later dismissed as a "marketing invention" by his record label.

Offstage, though, a different set of demons -- substance abuse -- took hold. "I can do absolutely nothing in moderation," he told People in 1981. "If I booze, I drink the place dry. If it's drugs, I take everything and then scrape the carpet for little crumbs." By 1979 his vices led to him being ousted from the very band he'd cofounded.

Osbourne -- who got sober in 2013 with the help of his manager turned wife, Sharon -- continued to tour and churn out solo records well into his 70s, even rejoining Black Sabbath for a 2013 album. But his fame reached new heights in the early 2000s with the runaway success of the groundbreaking reality show The Osbournes, which cemented his legacy. The series chronicled the dysfunctional day-to-day of Osbourne, Sharon and their two youngest children, Jack, now 39, and Kelly. "I've become everybody's American father, and I'm not even American," he joked to Entertainment Weekly in 2002 of the show, which became MTV's all-time highest-rated series at the time. Though the family (oldest daughter Aimee, 41, opted out) was often filmed arguing, the show's undercurrent was one of love. "They're the best parents I know," Kelly sad during the show's run.

While the series lifted the curtain on Osbourne's life offstage, there was one thing that never made the cut: his 2003 Parkinson's diagnosis, which he only shared publicly in 2020. In his later years Osbourne struggled with his health. Though he relished being a grandfather to his 10 grandchildren, he remained determined to return to music, even as Parkinson's affected his mobility and speech. With his final show, he said goodbye on his terms. "It's where I really belong. It's the only thing I know how to do. The relationship I have with my audience is the biggest love affair of my life," Osbourne told People in 2022. "I am determined to get back onstage, even if I have to be nailed to a board and wheeled on. Survival is my legacy."  

Simply The Best

A new book gives a rare peek at 'the real Tina' - as
captured by famed photographer Peter Lindbergh.

By Alexandra Schonfeld in People

ver the course of her five-decade career, Tina Turner was known for her incredible voice, hypnotizing dance moves and stunning ensembles. And no one captured her star quality quite like photographer Peter Lindbergh. The duo's sincere friendship and mutual admiration are on display within the pages of the new photo book Tina Turner by Peter Lindbergh, which features a collection of images -- many never before seen -- that the legendary photographer created over the course of their decades-long relationship. "[Peter] let her be exactly who she was: radiant, powerful, vulnerable," Lindbergh's son Benjamin Lindbergh says of their work together. "That trust between them brought out something very real and tender."

After meeting in the late 1980s, the two worked together several times and remained in contact until Lindbergh's death in 2019. They last saw each other during a 2016 visit Lindbergh made to to Turner and husband Erwin Bach's home in Switzerland. "Even if they didn't speak regularly... the bond was very much alive," Benjamin says of his father and Turner, who died in 2023. "I know Peter held that friendship close to his heart until the end."  

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