During an appearance on The Scuba Steve Show, CREED frontman Scott Stapp spoke about legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne who died late last month at the age of 76. Scott said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): He meant the world to rock and roll and metal. CREED definitely has huge metal influences, coming specifically from Mark‘s [Tremonti, CREED guitarist] side. But we all got into Ozzy when we were young. We all listened to BLACK SABBATH. We all listened to Ozzy as a solo artist. His songs not only rocked, but a lot of his ballads touched our hearts. His charisma, his personality, who he was as a father, from watching his reality shows, he was just a major influence. And [his wife and manager] Sharon Osbourne, she actually has been a part of CREED‘s story since 1998, and she’s always been a big CREED defender and had our back early in our career. And so we love that family and just wanted to share our love for Ozzy and for Sharon and know that they’re in our prayers during this difficult time.”
Back in 2021, Tremonti picked BLACK SABBATH‘s self-titled 1970 debut as one of his five essential guitar albums, telling Classic Rock magazine: “These are the guys who started it all for the scene I love the most. It’s hard to pick just one BLACK SABBATH record — all my favorite songs are spread out — but I’ll go with the debut album. Nobody had this sound before Tony Iommi. It’s almost like he and the band were possessed by some dark spirit, and this is the result. A lot of the metal that followed, like black metal, was directly influenced by BLACK SABBATH. Tony Iommi‘s riffs are and his guitar tone are so scary and gloomy. If anybody ever asks, ‘What does heavy sound like?’, this is the answer.”
Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease.
A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer’s friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).
The day before the private funeral, thousands of fans gathered in the streets of Birmingham to pay tribute to Ozzy. Sharon, along with their children Aimée, Kelly and Jack, joined mourners for the emotional tribute.
