Ozzy Osbourne once helped Christians protest his own show
The life of Ozzy Osbourne has been so mythical that he is widely known as ‘The Prince of Darkness’. His position as the definitive heavy metal frontman was compounded by a myriad of insane extra-musical activities that range from biting the head off a live bat during a notorious performance to sharing cocaine with a stewardess when eight miles high — and these are only the tip of the iceberg.
Given that Osbourne is both hailed and decried as the leading man of metal, courtesy of the ominous form of music that Black Sabbath pioneered, which drew on occult themes, and cuts such as ‘Mr. Crowley’ that he released as a solo artist, Ozzy has long been closely tied to religion.
Some segments of his fanbase see him as a Satanist hero, whilst his detractors regard him as a devil-worshipping taint that needs to be stopped in what is a greatly ironic point, given that his mother was a non-observant Catholic and as Sabbath’s image was a construct to sell records. Naturally, though, Osbourne has come into direct contact with religion at points over the years, and it has something that comes up frequently in interviews.
Sitting down with The San Diego Union-Tribune in 2018, Osbourne was asked what he told the people who thought Black Sabbath were Satanists, to which he replied: “Well, I never talk religion. I don’t understand organised religion. But I strive to be good, although it feels good to be bad, sometimes. I’m not bad, like, evil bad. I’m bad, in that I’m a naughty boy. I’m not a guy that worships the (expletive) devil. When Black Sabbath started, we got invited to an (expletive) graveyard at midnight. We told them: ‘Our (dark) image is a joke.'”
The fact that some elements have long criticised Osbourne as a Satanist is something that he’s consistently sought to dismiss and has even poked fun at, as his role in the 1986 cult horror Trick or Treat reflects. In the movie, he played Reverend Aaron Gilstrom, a character who parodied Conservative Christian America who crusades against rock music, criticising rockstars as “sick people”.
Osbourne has come into contact with these sorts of Christians many times over the years, and during a Rolling Stone interview in 2022 he revealed that he feels like he’s had a “symbiotic” relationship with Christian evangelists.
“I’ve kept them in jobs,” Ozzy said. “One time they were picketing [my] gig with this ‘Antichrist’ thing, and I joined them at the end of the line with a broomstick and stapled on ‘Have a Nice Day’ and a smiley face on it. They didn’t know I was there.”
