OZZY OSBOURNE

If you need to read a bio to learn about who Ozzy Osbourne is, what rock have you been living under?

Ozzy Osbourne’s career has spanned five decades and his music is as relevant today as ever. On any given day you can hear his music blasting at sporting events, in the movies, on the radio, in TV commercials, video games or on your phone.  Ozzy’s not only a legend and an icon but is a pioneer in his genre of music.  He has helped open the door for countless bands by giving them their big break by taking them on tour or by taking them on Ozzfest, his all-day metal festival which is now in its 23^rd year.

Ozzy has always been an innovator.  He leads and others follow. He was the first front man to leave a hugely successful band and have equal or greater success as a solo artist.  He was the first to have his own hard rock/metal touring festival.   He was the first to have a celebrity-reality television program.   There’s no doubt that Ozzy’s impact will be felt for generations to come.

Here are some milestones from Grammy Award-winning Ozzy Osbourne’s 50-year career:

THE SEVENTIES:

• Ozzy releases his first record with Black Sabbath in 1970 (released Friday, February    13th). The self-titled record goes platinum that same year in the U.K. and U.S.
• Ozzy releases 10 records with Black Sabbath.
• Black Sabbath has sold over 50 million records (to date) worldwide.
• Black Sabbath tours throughout the 70s performing to legions of fans around the world.
• Black Sabbath performs at the first California Jam in June 1974 to over 250,000 fans.
• Ozzy leaves Black Sabbath and goes solo in 1979.

THE EIGHTIES:

• Ozzy releases his first solo record Blizzard Of Ozz in 1980. The record is ultimately certified 5x Platinum.
• Ozzy releases seven records throughout the decade. Each one sells between two and five million copies.
• Ozzy has sold over 60 million records as a solo artist worldwide.
• Ozzy performs at the US Festival in 1983 in front of 250,000 fans.
• Ozzy performs at Live Aid in 1985, the legendary benefit concert for world hunger.
• Ozzy performs at the Moscow Peace Festival in 1989. This was the first major rock concert in the Soviet Republic by Western artists.

THE NINETIES:

• Ozzy releases five records this decade. Each record goes multi-platinum.
• Ozzy performed to millions of fans around the world in the 90s.  Over the next 12 years (1995-2006) Ozzy would annually tour the world.
• Ozzy wins a Grammy Award in 1993 for Best Metal Performance for “I Don’t Want To Change the World.”
• Ozzy and his wife/manager Sharon launch Ozzfest in 1996, the first national music festival of its kind dedicated to hard rock music.  The festival becomes known for breaking new artists, including Slipknot, System of a Down, Disturbed and many more.
• 1.4 million fans attend the annual Ozzfest music festival which Ozzy headlines (either as a solo artist or with Black Sabbath).

THE NEW MILLENIUM:

• Ozzy wins a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2000 as a part of Black Sabbath for “Iron Man.”
• Ozzy (with Black Sabbath) headlines Ozzfest 2001. Over 1 million-plus fans attended 32 sold-out dates.
• Noted film director Penelope Spheeris shoots a full-length documentary on Ozzfest titled “We Sold Our Souls For Rock ‘n’ Roll,” that debuts at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Ozzy also appears in the Adam Sandler film “Little Nicky” and “Austin Powers Goldmember” (with the Osbournes).
• Ozzy receives an MTV Movie Awards 2001 nomination for “Best Cameo” for his role in “Little Nicky.”
• Ozzy has released 13 albums during his 40-year career with Epic Records.
• Ozzy receives a Star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 12, 2002.
• “The Osbournes” debuts on MTV to a record-breaking audience for a new program. Further episodes create a national sensation around the Osbourne family and ratings skyrocket to become the highest-ever in MTV’s 22-year history.  “The Osbournes” is still the highest rated series in MTV’s history.
• Ozzy dines with President Bush at the Washington Correspondents Association Dinner in May 2002.
• Ozzy performs the Black Sabbath classic “Paranoid” for Queen Elizabeth’s 50^th Jubilee celebration at Buckingham Palace in June 2002
• Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly & Jack host ABC-TV’s “American Music Awards” in January 2003.
• Ozzy, Kelly & Jack’s Emmy-nominated “Pepsi Twist” commercial airs during Superbowl XXXVII (2003).
• Ozzy & Kelly hit #1 on the UK singles charts with their remake of the Black Sabbath classic “Changes.”  The single sold over 1 million copies.
• Ozzy and Sharon debut another MTV success with their “Battle For Ozzfest” weekly series (2004).
• Ozzy’s gold-certified Prince Of Darkness box set was released in March 2005 on Epic Records.
• Ozzy performs “Crazy Train” from atop the New England Patriots football helmet September 8, 2005 as the surprise guest at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts for ABC TV’s primetime “NFL Opening Kickoff 2005.”
• Ozzy releases the DualDisc Under Cover in late 2005.
• Ozzy and Black Sabbath inducted at The Second Annual UK Music Hall of Fame Ceremony.
• Ozzy inducted as a member of Black Sabbath into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2006.
• Ozzy releases Black Rain–his first album with new studio material in six years—in May 2007. The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3 with over 150,000 copies sold in the U.S. Black Rain also debuted in the Top Ten on the album charts in 10 other countries: #2 (Norway), #2 (Finland), #2 (Sweden), #5 (Canada), #5 (Czech Republic), #6 (Japan), #6 (Denmark), #7 (Austria), # 8 (UK), # 9 (Germany) and #10 (New Zealand).  Black Rain album sells more than one million copies worldwide and is certified Platinum in Canada and Gold in the United States.
• Ozzy’s first single from Black Rain, “I Don’t Wanna Stop,” becomes the biggest rock radio song of his career, spending 20 weeks at #1 on the R&R Rock Chart, peaking at #1 on the R&R Active Rock chart and garnered a 2008 Grammy nomination in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category. The song is also the lead track from EA’s Madden NFL ’08.
• Ozzy honored on VH-1’s “Rock Honors” in May 2007.
• Ozzy completes an 11-month world tour in April 2008 by performing to an audience of nearly 40,000 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• Ozzy and Metallica co-headlined the 13^TH year of Ozzfest on August 9^, 2008 in Dallas, TX establishing Ozzfest as a destination festival.
• Ozzy appears as an in-game character in Activision’s “Guitar Hero: World Tour.”  Also, appears in two very successful commercial campaigns for Samsung phones and another commercial for ‘World of Warcraft’ video.
• Ozzy is Crowned ‘Living Legend’ at the 2008 Classic Rock Awards in London.
• Ozzy is presented with the “Lifetime Achievement” award at first ever Revolver “Golden God” awards in April 2009 in Los Angeles.
• Ozzy is honored at a special tribute in conjunction with the 2^nd Annual ‘Sunset Strip Music Festival’ in September 2009.
• Ozzy gives a rousing performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25^th Anniversary concerts at Madison Square Garden in October 2009.  Ozzy performed two Black Sabbath classics with Metallica which were later broadcast on HBO.
• Ozzy is presented with Billboard magazine’s “Legend of Live” award at 2009 Billboard Touring Awards in November 2009 in New York City.
• Ozzfest is staged around the world throughout the 90s, early 2000s and 2010’s, including stops in the UK, Europe, Israel and Japan.

TWENTY TENS:

• Ozzy’s autobiography I AM OZZY is released in 2010.  The memoir is a bestseller, landing at #2 and #3 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal non-fiction charts, respectively.
• In June 2010, Ozzy releases SCREAM, his 10^th studio album, which enters the charts in the Top Ten in seven countries.  The album’s title single “Let Me Hear You Scream”–co-written and co-produced by Ozzy–is a #1 single on both the Active Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.  The track is also nominated for Grammy Award for “Best Hard Rock Performance.”  To coincide with SCREAM’s release, OSBOURNE leads baseball fans at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in setting a Guinness World Record for the longest and loudest scream.  Osbourne follows SCREAM’s release with an 18-month world tour.
• Ozzfest 2010 rolls out as a five-city tour which features headlining sets from Ozzy, Mötley Crüe and Rob Halford.
• In May 2011, Epic Records/Legacy Recordings restores and remasters Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman from the original recordings.  The albums are landmark albums that took metal in a new direction in the early 1980’s, inspiring whole new generations of rock bands and fans.
• TRUST ME, I’M DR. OZZY: ADVICE FROM ROCK’S ULTIMATE SURVIVOR by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres is released via Grand Central Publishing in October 2011.  Based on his then-ongoing Rolling Stone (U.S.) Sunday Times (U.K.) columns, TRUST ME, I’M DR. OZZY includes some of the best material from the columns, as well as survival stories not found in Ozzy’s memoir, his answers to celebrities’ medical questions, charts and sidebars, and much more.
• In 2011 OSBOURNE serves as a Record Store Day Ambassador which is celebrated with two releases: OZZY LIVE, a double LP set taken from 2011’s Blizzard of Ozz/Diary of a Madman 30th Anniversary Collector Box, and a 7” live version of Diary of a Madman’s classic Ozzy track “Believer.”
• In November 2011, Ozzy re-groups with his Black Sabbath bandmates to announce a new album.
• In June 2013, Black Sabbath’s 13 album, produced by Rick Rubin, is released and enters the Billboard charts at #1. It goes on to receive multiple Grammy nominations, including a win in the “Best Metal Performance” category for “God Is Dead?” the first release from the critically acclaimed album. Black Sabbath launches a massive world tour in support of the album and performs their final show (February 2017) in their Birmingham, UK hometown.
• The 10th anniversary MusiCares MAP Fund^® benefit honors Ozzy at their benefit event in March 2014 in Los Angeles.
• The GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE documentary is released in August 2014.  The documentary relives the highs of his triumphs as well as his voyage to sobriety, which Ozzy regards as his greatest accomplishment. The New York Times (4-15-11) describes the movie, saying it “unblinkingly chronicles the chaotic life and times of rock’s most notorious cut-up, from his miserable working-class childhood, to his latter-day sobriety.”
• In October 2014, Epic Records/Legacy Recordings releases MEMOIRS OF A MADMAN collections.  The album features 17 of Ozzy’s greatest hit singles compiled in one place for the first time in his career and is released as a single CD, two-LP set and two-LP picture disc set configurations.  It enters the charts at #1 in the U.S, Sweden, Finland, Australia and Canada.
• In 2014, OZZY receives the Global Icon Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
• In 2016 and 2017, Ozzfest joins forces with Slipknot’s Knotfest for Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, a multi-stage, two-day weekend camping events in San Bernardino, CA, the birthplace of Ozzfest.  The 2016 crowd swells to more than 45,000 solely for the Ozzfest day of that weekend.
• Ozzy wraps 2018 with a stand-alone New Year’s Eve Ozzfest celebration at the Forum in Los Angeles.  The night includes sets from Ozzy and Ozzfest alumni: Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and Jonathan Davis (of Korn), along with the Ozzfest debut of Body Count featuring Ice-T.
• Ozzy announces farewell world tour in November 2017 to celebrate his five decades as a performer (both as a solo artist and as lead singer of Black Sabbath which formed in 1968).
• Ozzy’s farewell “No More Tours 2” launches in May 2018 with shows in Mexico, South America and Europe with the North American dates kicking off that August.  After initially postponing the final four shows of the first American leg, Osbourne cancels all remaining performances in 2019, ultimately rescheduling shows around the world for 2020.

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