Happy Birthday to the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne , who turned 70 today. The Birmingham, U.K. native is undoubtedly one of the most famous and beloved heavy-metal singers on the planet.
As the frontman of Black Sabbath , Osbourne helped define the metal genre thanks to his otherworldly vocals on such classic tunes as "Iron Man," "Paranoid" and "War Pigs." After a decade with the group, Ozzy was fired from Sabbath, purportedly over his substance abuse.
Osbourne soon launched a solo career that, with initial help from virtuoso guitarist Randy Rhoads , became more successful than Black Sabbath's. Among Ozzy's memorable tunes from the '80s are "Crazy Train," "Flying High Again," "Shot in the Dark," "Bark at the Moon" and "No More Tears." In 1988, Osbourne scored a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Close My Eyes Forever," a duet with Lita Ford .
Over the years, Ozzy occasionally reunited with Black Sabbath, while mainly focusing on his solo endeavors. In 1996, Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon , launched Ozzfest , an annual hard-rock festival and tour that Ozzy has regularly headlined either solo or with Sabbath.
In the early 2000s, the singer found a whole new audience when he starred alongside Sharon and two of their children -- Jack and Kelly -- in the MTV reality series The Osbournes , which ran from 2002 to 2005.
In 2006, Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Black Sabbath. The band -- minus founding drummer Bill Ward -- reunited to record a final studio album, 13 , which was released in 2013. The group launched a farewell tour called The End that ran from January 2016 to February 2017. Ozzy has now refocused on his solo career and has a slew of 2019 tour dates scheduled.
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