[Update 7/22/25]: In light of the breaking news that Ozzy Osbourne has died at age 76, we’re revisiting this collection of some of the more outrageous antics he got into on the road throughout his decades-long career. Rest easy, Oz. We’ll miss you.

[Originally published 12/3/23]: Ozzy Osbourne didn’t become known as the “Prince of Darkness” merely for his heavy metal music or his sinister onstage attire and antics—though stunts like biting the head off of a bat during a show in Des Moines certainly didn’t hurt his case. Rather, Ozzy’s legend lives in the many tales of the mischievous, agent-of-chaos manner in which he lived life between gigs, the same astonishingly reckless behavior that got him canned as the frontman for Black Sabbath in 1979, banned from the city of San Antonio in 1982, and so forth.

While each of these shocking stories comes with a strict “do not try this at home” warning from your friends at Live For Live Music—drugs are bad, mmkay?—their shock value is undeniable. In light of Ozzy’s passing today at the age of 76, take a look back at some of the most outrageous tour stories from throughout his career as told by the fellow musicians and other associates who were dragged along for the ride.

Ozzy Osbourne & Drugs

[Video: No Name]

First, a classic: the drug-fueled havoc rained down on unsuspecting hotels when Mötley Crüe went on tour with Ozzy back in 1985 (“I don’t remember the shows, to be honest with you,” Osbourne once confessed of the run). Of note, the “snorting ants” story told in the video was included in Mötley Crüe’s tell-all 2001 memoir, The Dirt, and was later dramatized for the 2018 Netflix film adaptation of the same name. Below, watch Tommy Lee recount Ozzy and Nikki Sixx‘s gentlemen’s contest to see who could be the most depraved:

Tommy Lee On Partying With Ozzy Osbourne

[Video: Katerina Malevskaya]

Zakk Wylde undoubtedly has his fair share of Ozzy Osbourne stories from his many years as the Prince of Darkenss’ lead guitarist. In this clip from Loudwire, Wylde explains a stealth bathroom beer handoff on the night the band recorded their Live at Budokan record at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan back in 2002.

Zakk Wylde Tells An Ozzy Osbourne Drinking Story

[Video: Loudwire]

In this one, Wylde talks about how he first bonded with “the boss”—by getting blasted with him. “We were the gruesome twosome,” he laughs. “No one would hang out with him except for me.”

Zakk Wylde Talks Bonding With Ozzy Osbourne

In this next clip, Rob Zombie recounts a wild night with Ozzy Osbourne and another famously belligerent partier, Rick James. Of course, the requisite substances and ensuing chaos played a role there.

Rob Zombie Talks Hanging With Ozzy Osbourne & Rick James

[Video: Fuse]

Of course, living like this makes an eventual crash nearly inevitable, and there are plenty of examples of Ozzy’s substance abuse producing dangerous results. In the 2019 interview from 60 Minutes Australia below, Sharon Osbourne talks about the harrowing night when Ozzy, in a state of booze-addled psychosis, convinced himself that she needed to die and attempted to kill her himself.

Sharon Osbourne On The Night Ozzy Tried To Strangle Her

[Video: 60 Minutes Australia]

Thankfully, Ozzy calmed down considerably in his later years, during which he maintained long periods of sobriety as he battled health issues like Parkinson’s Disease.

As Osbourne told The Mirror in a 2020 interview, “You know the time when I will retire? When I can hear them nail a lid on my box. And then I’ll f***ing do an encore. I’m the Prince of Darkness.” In a sense, that was true: Just weeks before his passing, he put on one final show for the ages in England. Read more about that night here.

[Originally published 12/3/21]