Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76.
The music legend’s family confirmed the news in a statement earlier today, sharing that he died this morning.
The message, from his wife Sharon Osbourne and their three children – Kelly, Jack and Aimee, read: ‘It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.
‘He was with his family and surrounded by love.
‘We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.’
Ozzy’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
The sad news comes after the rock legend faced a tough few years with health battles.
In January 2020, he revealed in an emotional interview that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s after suffering health complications due to a fall in 2019, which meant he had to have surgery on his neck.
Sharon explained: ‘It’s Parkin’s II, which a form of Parkinson’s. There’s so many different types of Parkinson’s. It’s not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination, but it does effect certain nerves in your body.
‘It’s like you have a good day, a good day, and then a really bad day.’
Speaking to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, she continued: ‘I’m on a host of medications, mainly for this surgery. I’ve got numbness down this arm from the surgery, my legs [keep] going cold.
‘I don’t know if that’s Parkinson’s or what. That’s the problem, because they cut nerves when they did the surgery. It’s a weird feeling.’
The Black Sabbath legend added that he was taking medication for his Parkin’s.
The couple were seeking treatment in Switzerland for his illness.
In 2019, Ozzy suffered a string of illnesses and accidents, which began with hospitalisation for pneumonia.
Then, the reality star suffered a horror fall in his LA home, which dislodged the metal rods in his spine that had been put in after a quad-bike accident in 2003.
Speaking to the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, he recalled: ‘I went to the bathroom in the night, lost my balance and landed flat on my face. I saw this big white flash when I hit the floor and I thought, “You’ve finally done it now”.
‘I knew it was bad, I thought I was paralysed, so very calmly I said, “Sharon, I can’t move. I think I’ve done my neck. Phone an ambulance”.’
The musician had to undergo three operations following the fall, and had to spend Christmas away from Sharon and daughter Kelly as doctors advised he was not well enough to fly back to the UK.
Osbourne, real name John Michael Osbourne, rose to fame in the 1970s as the frontman of metal band Black Sabbath, during which time he was nicknamed The Prince Of Darkness.
They went on to release tracks such as Paranoid, Iron Man and Changes.
His most infamous moment was in 1982 when he bit the head off a bat – believed to be dead at the time – while on stage at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 20.
The creature was launched at him from the audience by a fan and it was only after he had bitten into it that he realised it was a real animal. He was later rushed to hospital for a rabies injection.
To mark the occasion he released a plush bat with a velcro detachable head.
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