The Impact of Celebrity Deaths - Goodbye Ozzy Osbourne

A few weeks ago there was, what seemed to be, a flurry of celebrity deaths. We lost Connie Francis, Hulk Hogan, Malcolm Jamal Warner and Ozzy Osbourne. I’m assuming that we all have stronger thoughts and feelings for some celebrities and some "oh, that's too bad" sentiments about others. Depending upon your age you may not be familiar with any of those names. That leads me to my topic today, which is part observation and part tribute to Ozzy Osbourne.

Intro

The loss of a relative, a close friend, or a work colleague affects each of us in different ways. We mourn with friends and loved ones, but that is usually a relatively small group. When a celebrity passes, and more specifically, a popular musician, then the whole world mourns. For a chosen few, tributes take place long after a musician has left us (Jerry Garcia or Elvis comes to mind). We wonder what if? - What if the likes of Karen Carpenter, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and so many others were granted more time on this planet?

Part Observation

We desperately want our music icons to live as long as they can - AND, for them to continue to perform the music we love at a high level. Whether it's a reminder of our youth, or wanting to have that feeling of being young again, we flock to concerts to see these aging superstars. Where we once would never consider seeing musicians that were in their 60's, 70's or 80's, we now want to see 83 year old Paul McCartney and 85 year old Ringo Starr, but pretend that they are going to be as great now as they were back in the day.

Variables that impact our views on the loss of a musician

I mentioned earlier that each of us is impacted differently whenever we learn of a celebrity passing. Here are a few considerations:

1. Was the musician taken from us tragically or did they live a long life?

2. Where was that musician's career trajectory? On the rise? On the decline?

3. At what stage (age) were you at in your own life in when they passed away?

I'll use John Lennon as an example. He was taken from us in the most tragic way possible. The shock of his death was on par with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Lennon had just come out with his album, Double Fantasy - a comeback since he had been out of the public eye for a few years. I was only 19 when he passed away. I was just starting my own life journey, and I still remember driving into work early in the morning and hearing the report on the radio. The announcement may have been made by Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football the night before, but I distinctly remember hearing it that next morning.

Where is that Sweet Spot of Fandom?

This is something that intrigues me, and the more I thought about it the more sense it made. In order to be a fan of a musician or a band I think it's helpful if the following are in place:

1. Accessibility - Can you listen to their music? Nowadays Pandora, Apple Music, Spotify, Sirius XM, and a host of other services make it easy. Before the internet it was LP records, 8-track tapes, cassettes or listening intently to the radio.

2. Message - What were they singing about? Did you identify with it? Could you even understand the lyrics? Did it matter? I'm a big fan of the band Yes, and most of the time the lyrics didn't make much sense, but the music sure was good!

3. Means - These days a ticket to any music event costs a small fortune. Way back in 1983 it was also "expensive" for the times we were in. I'm looking at a couple of Ozzy Osbourne concert ticket stubs from April 1982 and 1983. Do you know what the face value was? $11.50!

4. Time - Do you have the time to devote to listening? As a late teen/early 20 something I recall devoting a lot of time to recording live concerts off the radio (think King Biscuit Flour Hour, BBC Rock Hour), and I have the cassettes to prove it. Just ask any of my college pals.

Tribute - Ozzy Osbourne

The band, Black Sabbath, formed in 1970. At nine years old I can guarantee you that the songs "Iron Man" and "Paranoid" were not being played on any turntable in the Shultis household. The very first time I remember someone talking about Black Sabbath was right around 1979. When I started going through my heavy metal phase (Scorpions, Judas Priest, AC/DC) I started to listen to Black Sabbath. But, it was at the Holiday Inn in Kingston, NY circa 1979/80 when dishroom employee Charlie first spoke of Ozzy Osbourne in God-like terms. Ozzy had just released his first solo album, "Blizzard of Oz", and was going on tour. That is not when I got hooked. We thought Charlie was out of his mind!

Back in the day some of the FM stations played recorded concerts. There was The King Biscuit Flour Hour and the BBC Rock Hour. There were a few times when Ozzy appeared on the radio in one of these concerts with an incredibly talented guitarist named Randy Rhoads. As it turns out some of those concerts played on the radio were turned into CDs and made available years (decades) later.

Looking back, the sweet spot for me as it pertains to Ozzy Osbourne is the 1981-1983 period. Ozzy released "Diary of a Madman", his second studio album. Back in 1982 information wasn't forthcoming like it is today. I had no idea how tumultuous it was in the Ozzy camp. Guitarist, Randy Rhoads had passed away in an airplane crash, and rather than take time to assess their situation the band barreled ahead with their tour.

Capitalizing On The Past - The Peak of Fandom

Later in 1982 Ozzy performed live, recording a concert in NYC in late September. This concert was turned into an album called "Speak of the Devil", and it was a performance of all Black Sabbath songs. I bought the album and recorded it on a cassette. Later I made an mp3 and burned a CD. Now? I did a search and it can be found on Spotify - although recently I found the CD that I burned. It still sounded good, but I had to borrow my son's car to find a working CD player to listen to it!

Oh, How Innocent and Silly We Were Back Then...

Silly me. I believed that Speak of the Devil concert album was live (which it was), but what I was not aware of (until I read about it recently) is how they "sweetened" it up to give it the right sound. It doesn't change my enjoyment of listening to it, but I guess it's something I just didn't need to know. Here's an article that shares information about the live album.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ozzy-osbourne-speak-of-the-devil/

I saw one more Ozzy concert - The Worcester (Massachusetts) Centrum on Monday, April 4th, 1983. I recall that there was another guitarist and I vaguely remember the show, but I think by then my interest in Ozzy and his music was starting to fade - but not before I picked up some merch from back in the early-mid '80s (see below).

Renewed Interest

If you are a music fan the one thing you have to be happy about in this day and age is your access to information about your favorite band or artist. I was curious about the early 80's and found a couple of pieces that helped me connect some dots from the past - stories and interviews confirming or refuting things I had heard at the time (i.e., a bat's head being bitten off). Listed below is one great source. It's an interview from a number of years ago when Ozzy sat down with "Redbeard", a radio personality that has been around for decades.

Redbeard - In The Studio (www.inthestudio.net) An interview on the 45th anniversary of the Blizzard of Ozz - Ozzy's first solo album.

https://www.inthestudio.net/online-on-demand/ozzy-osbourne-blizzard-ozz/

Thanks for indulging me, and remember - courtesy of Ozzy...

"Everyone goes through changes - Looking to find the truth - Don't look at me for answers - Don't ask me, I don't know" -- Songwriters: Ozzy Osbourne / Robert John Daisley / Randall Rhoads

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Dave

About David Shultis

I currently work as a Customer Success Manager for a small 3PL (third party logistics) fulfillment company (www.gofetchfulfillment.com) in Lakewood, NJ. This follows roles in marketing, product management, operations and customer service spanning a few (dozen) years.

You can find me biking in and around New Jersey, occasionally writing about whatever's on my mind, and enjoying both of my kids' outdoor adventures (Instagram - @natalieunderwater and @bdshultis), and sharing our empty nest with my wife, Denise.

Pacific Crest Trail Update - Brian Shultis

My son embarked on hiking the PCT in 2025 (Southern California at the Mexican border all the way to the Canadian border at the Washington state - 2,650 miles) starting back in early April. He has crossed into Washington and is down to the last few hundred miles. He started solo, and has met up with a "trail family" that, I'm sure, has made this challenge just a little easier. Here are a few pictures that I wanted to share.