A Tribute to Oz

Jason Landry, contributor

 

On April 25, 1986 my mother took me to my very first metal concert—Ozzy Osbourne with openers Metallica. As a 14 year old, this was HUGE to say the least. It was such a moment that I have kept this ticket stub for nearly 40 years!

 

I had been listening to Ozzy for a few years at this point—Blizzard of Oz, Bark at the Moon and the current album he was touring under was called The Ultimate Sin. His videos were all over MTV and as a young adult trying to learn to play the guitar, I was totally enamored with his past guitar player Randy Rhoads and current in 1986, Jake E. Lee.

 

As this concert ignited something in me, I continued down the heavy metal music rabbit hole and delved backwards into other bands that were making waves including, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and of course Black Sabbath. 

 

Ozzy played such a pivotal role in bringing this genre of music to the forefront. Anyone interested in metal music or had aspirations of playing this type of music have him and his bands to thank—and they do thank him.

 

That was clearly evident on July 5th of this year when a number of bands got together to celebrate Ozzy and Black Sabbath in Birmingham, England for the “Back to the Beginning” celebration concert. The who’s who of rock and metal were there—Metallica, Guns & Roses, Anthrax, and the list goes on, to play and then watch Ozzy and Black Sabbath perform for the very last time.

 

I’m sad to hear of his passing, especially after watching him perform only two and a half weeks ago, but I know that he is no longer in pain. His energy is still with us and his music will live on forever.