What Ozzy Osbourne's parents really thought of Black Sabbath

Today. Black Sabbath is known all over the world as a cult rock band, which became the personification of an entire era and an innovator - in some ways. Firstly, the band was one of the first to popularise "rumbling" sound! It was so powerful that the fans who were lucky enough to ever watch the show right next to the stage can not only envy, but sympathise... Or rather - their eardrums. And secondly - the band brought to the world of rock. "dark shades"that have resonated and have been madly loved by the public.

All members of Black Sabbath (including Ronnie James Diowho took over at the microphone after Osbourne's dismissal) have become legends of the genre and time, and there is no equal! Take, for example, Tony Iommi: a superb guitarist who turned his own adversity into an asset (we're talking about his damaged fingertips). А Geezer Butler? He was able to bring his story, and the stories of his Sabbath colleagues - about their difficult lives, poverty and so on - to the world! A talented songwriter who deserves respect. But what was the reaction to the success of this ambitious and highly unconventional project for its time ? Ozzy Osbourne's parents?

A bit about the band

While the hippies were promoting "love and world peace" that burst onto the rock arena in the late 60's Black Sabbath decided to tell the public their own, completely opposite story... Instead of bright colours, it was painted in black. The songs of the band were rough, harsh, but completely true - they corresponded to the reality in which the members were. They were all from Birmingham, a small industrial town, and none of them knew what a "classy life" was. From the memoirs of Geezer Butler:

"We decided that we would sing about our lives - about the harsh reality, which is not usually romanticised. All of us were "from the swamp": we were spinning as best we could, we didn't see much money and so on... At that time, many artists sang about protests, but in fact - they all lived in style. So I wrote from the heart, from a pure soul... Our songs fully corresponded to our reality, from which, as it seemed to us at the time, there was no way out...".

Exactly Geezer Butler wrote some of the band's best songs. But his poetic gift in no way diminishes the genius of the rest of the members, who contributed greatly to the development of the band! Together, they presented a bubbling mix of dirty rock that quickly took on occult associations. Subsequently Tony Iommi reminisced:

"It was interesting to bring that atmosphere of horror to the music. Our songs were different - they were different from everything else, both in sound and lyrics. But people liked it..."

First impressions

And indeed: the band gained fans quite quickly. Already in the early '70s, Black Sabbath was known to millions, and now the members had a taste of the long-standing tantalising "stylish living.". But what did Ozzy Osbourne's parents think of all this?

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According to the "Prince of Darkness," he still remembers the look on his parents' faces as he for the first time put the band's music on them.

"I'll never forget when I got my first Black Sabbath album and I brought it home to my parents. So: went the track list, and it had everything! Rain, thunder, all kinds of demonic shouting and stuff! My mother and my father looked at each other in amazement. They both turned to me at the same time and said, "Ozzy, are you sure you only drink beer occasionally? And only him?"

Support that played a key role

Despite the fact that the band's music left them shocked, to say the least, Ozzy's parents have always supported his son's career. His father, Jackeven made crosses for each Sabbath member to ward off the curse! Butler will tell you more about it:

"Because our music was dark and strange, many people saw us as a demonic band. When this magical organisation came along that wanted us to play in a stone circle, we were cursed! We refused, as we weren't promoting Satan or anything like that, and they put a curse on us. We were beyond terrified!"

Ozzy's father made the legendarily famous huge crosses from surplus metal - he worked at a metallurgical plant. As a result, the crosses became not just an amulet, but also a business card of the band. Moreover, in fact, it was Jack who helped his son become a rock star by buying the first speaker system Ozzy's life... For this gift the man went into debt, but as we can judge - it was worth it! As Butler later recalled:

"I was just hanging out in a music shop when I saw this advert: 'Ozzy Zig wants to perform'. I wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't said at the end, 'He has his own speaker system.' At the time, I didn't care at all what the guy sounded like. He had a system, and that's what matters!"

That's where the story began...