Remembering Ozzy (1948-2025) with writer Sylvie Simmons, and Women In Vinyl's Jenn D'Eugenio

On July 22, 2025, we lost Birmingham-born rock vocalist and cultural icon Ozzy Osbourne, rock's "prince of darkness," at the age of 76. His death, from complications due to Parkinson's Disease, ends a career spanning five decades, in which he pioneered an entire subgenre of heavy metal music, as frontman for Black Sabbath, before going on to an even bigger career as a solo artist, where he is credited for introducing the guitarist Randy Rhoads to the wider rock world, and for creating the wildly popular Ozzfest tours. Then, when he'd done it all, he and members of his family, Jack, Kelly, and his manager-wife Sharon, became pioneers of "reality TV" with the hit series, The Osbournes.

On this very special episode, we hear two personal stories of how Ozzy's music and persona touched the lives of music industry professionals who were also, first and foremost, fans.

Returning to our program, Jenn D'Eugenio (Women In Vinyl), made the journey to Birmingham for Ozzy's bittersweet Back To The Beginning farewell show, . She shares her first-hand descriptions of the event, plus two other fascinating Black Sabbath stories.

Also returning is acclaimed music journalist Sylvie Simmons (Sounds, Kerrang!, and more), who took some time away from writing an Ozzy piece for Mojo magazine to share some personal anecdotes with Ozzy dating all the way back to his last days in Sabbath and how Sharon navigated his career back to the top.

The Record Store Day Podcast is a weekly music chat show written, produced, engineered and hosted by Paul Myers, who also composed the theme music and selected interstitial music. 

Executive Producers (for Record Store Day) Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton. For the most up-to-date news about all things RSD, visit RecordStoreDay.com

 

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