According to Anti Music, a Black Sabbath fan, Helen Maidiotis, has petitioned 3 times to get Ozzy Osborne knighted by the Queen of England herself. 3 TIMES! That’s some serious dedication. With nearly 20,000 signatures already submitted, it looks like the legend of metal may become a Sir before we know it. Curious to see the petition? Click here.

It’s easy for us to see why Osbourne’s fan base would want to see him knighted, after all - he gave us all 50 years of his musical/entertainment services, helped raise money for multiple charities and created a community of metalheads that, to this day, stand strongly behind him.

Where did Ozzy get his start?

Although today we see Osbourne as an influential part of our music history, the famous musician had a challenging beginning that many of us don’t know about. Dropping out of school at the age of 15, he was left to work menial jobs, soon after being imprisoned for burglary. Throughout this time in prison, Osborne nurtured his profound love for music - pursuing a career as a vocalist once released. And that’s where the legend’s music career begins.

With Terence Butler on bass, Tony Lommi on guitar, Bill Ward on drums and Ozzy as lead vocals, the quartet formed a band in 1968 under the name Polka Tulk Blues. The band was soon renamed Earth, later be known as the one and only Black Sabbath. This seminal heavy metal band is now known for numerous iconic songs such as Paranoid, War Pigs and Iron Man. 

As the band gained traction and began touring, a few of the members - including Osbourne - started dabbling into drugs and alcohol in true rock n’ roll fashion. Unfortunately, these acts took a toll on the band, leading them to part ways after the unsuccessful release of Technical Ecstasy & Never Say Die. The band did continue on with various front-men after the separation, although Black Sabbath never again reached the level of fame achieved during the Ozzy Osbourne era.

A Time for Change: Taking it Solo

By 1979 Ozzy was embarking on a solo career, all the while earning plenty of attention for his brazen public acts, ruffling the feathers of more conservative groups. Even if you haven’t heard much of his crazy lifestyle, we all are aware that he is no ‘boy next door’. But regardless of the publics’ opinion of him during this time, he surely left a memorable mark.

Continuing to pursue his music career as a solo artist, Osbourne made it on the Top 10 in the UK with his singles Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley in 1980. What a fucking comeback, right? A huge part of his public notoriety was due to his antisocial theatrics and the cultivation of his angry misfit and troubled loner persona.

Still, Osbourne continued to climb the charts, having reached the Top 10 in the US in 1991 with his hit single ‘No More Tears’, winning his first Grammy Award by 1994 he had won his first Grammy Award, and earning the #4 spot on the US Top 10 by 2001 with this album Down to Earth. Though all his major ups and downs, doesn’t it seem as though Ozzy Osbourne is the cat with 9 lives?! He is truly unstoppable. 

Reunited and it Feels So Good

In 2005, Black Sabbath reunited for a tour, leading the Legends of Metal into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Throughout the years, the band continued to play together, released several more successful albums and announced that they had plans for one final tour, fittingly named ‘The End’. 

Shortly after the final tour, they released an album with the same the - The End - comprised of 13 unreleased songs and several live performances. The album did extremely well, getting many rave reviews from fans and critics. Loud Wire featured a review of this album, written by Chad Childers, which states "the live songs, such as ‘Into the Void’, are so electrifying, you’d swear you were close enough to feel the visible sweat dripping from Osbourne’s brow or as though you were hanging right in the midst of a chanting crowd”. Now that’s the kind of Live Album I want to listen to! If you’re interested, I’ve included links for the full review from Loud Wire and the album ‘The End’.

Staying Relevant

Ozzy’s story of success and fame doesn’t end here. Alongside reuniting with Black Sabbath, Ozzy and his family starred in their own relative TV show ‘The Osbournes’ in 2002. The show was centered around the entertaining domestic life of the Osbournes and quickly after it’s release became an instant hit. The show aired for 4 seasons, giving old and new fans an inside look at the rock star's homelife. Lasting until 2005, the show earned a Prime-time Emmy and became one of MTV’s all-time highest-rated shows.  

Mostly recently, Ozzy and Travis Barker featured on a Post Malone’s album Hollywood’s Bleeding in the song Take What You Want. The song was an instant hit world wide but the funniest part? Many millennials had no idea who this legend was. Some even took to Twitter, giving Post Malone credit for “finding” Ozzy FUCKING Osborne which we all know definitely isn't the case.

The point is, Ozzy Osbourne has the die-hard fans we all aspire to have, following his career for nearly 5 decades. It’s not a surprise to us that some of his followers would go to the lengths of getting him knighted. Who’s to say it’ll ever happen but it sure as hell is a conversation starter to say the least. Pretty funny shit though, huh?

Don’t worry, plenty of his true fans set the world straight again, ensuring that his claim to fame was due to nothing less than his hard work, wild acts and dedication to his music. 

In the end, what's the consensus? Does Ozzy Osbourne deserve to be knighted? Long live rock n' roll 🤘