During a recent appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons reflected on the life and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne following the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer’s death. After host Piers Morgan noted that the debut SABBATH album was a “revolutionary” record when it came out in 1970, Gene concurred. “Well, when you first heard it… I mentioned this before elsewhere that I was reading Rolling Stone [magazine], and when you got to the back cover, there was an ad, a black ad with silhouettes of figures,” he recalled (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “You didn’t quite know what it was. BLACK SABBATH. But the headline said ‘BLACK SABBATH — louder than LED ZEPPELIN‘. I went, ‘Oh my God. I’ve gotta check this band out. What’s this about?’ And in the early days, we found ourselves playing with SABBATH — three or four shows, 1974 I think it was. And it was not a big hall — 3,000 seats maybe — and on the way off the stage, Geezer [Butler, SABBATH bassist] was off stage, the great bass player, and with the heels on and everything, I was about seven feet tall, and Geezer is not; Geezer is regular height. And Ozzy tells the story of how Geezer goes back to Ozzy and starts talking, ‘What’s this band blowing up bombs and all? What’s that about?’ But I’ll tell you what happened is on the way off the stage, Ozzy was going on the stage and we were going by each other and I was aware, ‘Oh, this is the lead singer of BLACK SABBATH.’ And he walked over and he put his hand out. He says, ‘Hello, I’m Ozzy. Nice to see you.’ I was fully in my the stage thing. And he [went] just matter of fact, ‘Hi, I’m Ozzy. Nice to see you.’ I was so caught off guard. And then he went on stage and went crazy.
“What a giant,” Gene continued. “People have called me, people in the industry, but there were two fans who were on the phone together that I happened to know, and they couldn’t get the words out [because they were mourning Ozzy‘s death]. They were just bawling. They were just crying. Kept crying. One would start talking about, ‘Remember when Ozzy…’ And then they would get back to crying.
“He was a giant,” Simmons repeated. “What a terrible, terrible loss.”
Asked how good of a singer Ozzy was from a technical standpoint, Gene said: “He’s never gotten the credit. Ozzy never tried to change his voice. When I sing in KISS or when [METALLICA‘s James] Hetfield or anybody gets up there, we put on the gruff [tone], we put on the meat grinder in our voice to try to do that. Ozzy was always Ozzy; he sang melody.
“It’s funny,” he continued. “Ozzy and I ran into each other at an event, and we were sitting with each other and talking. And he said this in public, but he said it to my face. I said, ‘So what do you think? What kind of music you like?’ ‘Oh, I love THE BEATLES.’ ‘Oh, yeah. Me too. Me too.’ ‘Who else?’ ‘I love ABBA.’ ABBA?
“The rest of us are all trying to pick the right things to say to bolster our public image. Ozzy didn’t give a squat. He was Ozzy, and caution be damned. Take it or leave it.
“Maybe the Greeks were right after all,” Gene added. “To thine own self be true. Ozzy was always Ozzy, and he was not a made-up thing. We created our stage personas, with the makeup and sticking my tongue out and all that stuff. Ozzy just walked out on stage… and just let it all hang out. And the love and admiration, not just of the industry but the fans is unequaled. I know right now there are millions of fans — I’m getting choked up myself — there are millions of fans who are just devastated and crying. What a giant.”
On the day of Ozzy‘s death, Gene sat down with NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz to discuss Osbourne‘s legacy and their longtime friendship and intertwined early careers in the music industry. Asked how he remembered the BLACK SABBATH singer, Gene said: “Well, I remember the man. In 1974, we were both trying to forge our paths and we actually played on the same bill. And I will tell you that the masses, the fans are grieving. What can you say? It’s just broken hearts. And when I tell you my heart, my prayers and millions of others’ to Sharon and the kids.
“People think of him as the Prince Of Darkness and on stage, of course, this huge persona, a giant, but at the same time, [he was] a loving father and a dedicated husband,” Gene continued.
“You can say whatever you want about Ozzy. There never was an Ozzy before Ozzy,” Simmons added. “You can’t really point to anybody and say, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s where he came from.’ Scientists call that a singularity, an anomaly. He was just kind of born Ozzy, and as far as I know, his entire life — to thine own self be true, the Greeks say. Ozzy was always Ozzy — through disco, through whatever musical genres there were, Ozzy was always Ozzy all the way to the end.”
Reflecting on Ozzy‘s final performance, which took place on July 5 at the “Back To The Beginning” event in Birmingham, United Kingdom, Gene said: “It was shocking to see him on his throne, with everybody paying tribute — as well they should — to SABBATH. There wouldn’t have been METALLICA and lots of other bands. And Ozzy was just giving it all. And you couldn’t tell — you couldn’t tell. And a week later, devastating [news about his death]. I mean, the fans, my social media and my phone’s been off the hook. People are just crying. They’re just devastated. What can you say?”
Gene also talked about his initial introduction to BLACK SABBATH‘s music, saying: “My first impression of SABBATH was a full-page ad in the back of Rolling Stone [magazine], and it said, ‘BLACK SABBATH: Louder Than LED ZEPPELIN.’ And I went, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s the coolest of the cool.’ And media being what it is, it promotes everybody. But then when you see SABBATH, it just had, certainly at the time — there was nothing like that on stage. And. When you saw Ozzy running around on stage, you’re thinking, ‘This is somebody who should be committed,’ just a crazy man.
“I’ve never read [a review] or saw a SABBATH show ever where you got the sense that Ozzy was just going through the paces and, ‘Oh, boy. Here’s the song. You want the greatest hits,'” Gene continued. “They never played the game, the ‘I love you. You’re the only one for me. You broke my heart,’ you know, those lyrics, which are —let’s face it — they’re not true.
“People don’t realize that Ozzy, though he didn’t play an instrument, those are his melodies,” Simmons added. “That’s him writing melodies and lyrics and crafting that sound, that enormous guitar that [Tony] Iommi has that just shook the heavens, the guitar that ruled the world.
“Ozzy, there never was one like him and probably never will be.”
Also paying tribute to Ozzy was Gene‘s bandmate, KISS co-founder Paul Stanley, who wrote in a post on X: “We have lost a legend. From SABBATH to ‘Blizzard’ and onward Ozzy has impacted countless bands and that will not end.
“KISS was humbled to be an opening band for SABBATH in the mid 70’s.
“Through decades I’ve known him, Ozzy has always been a kind and very funny soul. Fly high now.”
Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.
“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,” the family said.
No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.
At the “Back To The Beginning” concert, Ozzy and the rest of BLACK SABBATH performed four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.
