Rock's Prince of Darkness arrived in this world on this day in 1948. John Michael Osbourne was the son of factory working parents in the industrial city of Birmingham, England. He acquired the nick name Ozzy while in grade school. Hearing the Beatles for the first time when he was 14 convinced him to become a musician, which he would, after leaving school the following year, taking on a number of jobs, dabbling in crime and doing some jail time.
Ozzy's musical salvation began in Rare Breed, a band that Terence 'Geezer' Butler started. It disbanded after doing just a couple of gigs and the pair recruited two members from another band's break-up - Bill Ward and Tony Iommi of Mythology, to form a group that briefly went under the names Polka Tuck Blues and Earth before settling on Black Sabbath.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events include...
1949 Jefferson Starship lead singer Mickey Thomas born.
1952 .38 Special guitarist/singer Don Barnes born.
1953 Molly Hatchet guitarist Duane Roland born.
1961 Brian Epstein proposes he manage the Beatles.
1965 Beatles release Rubber Soul in UK.
1965 Keith Richards shocked on stage during Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento, CA.
1969 The Rolling Stones record Brown Sugar.
1971 Montreux casino catches fire during a Frank Zappa concert. Seeing it from afar inspires Deep Purple to write Smoke On Water.
1976 Bob Marley, his wife and his manager wounded during a robbery of his home in Jamaica.
1976 Sex Pistols release Anarchy in the UK.
1979 Stampede for general admission kills 11 at Cincinnati Who concert.
1986 The parents of teens that committed suicide after listening to Judas Priest songs sue the band.
1991 Guns N' Roses replaces Izzy Stradlin with Gilby Clarke.
2002 Peter Garrett quits Midnight Oil
2009 Ron Wood jailed overnight after police respond to domestic disturbance call for altercation between the Rolling Stones guitarist and Eketerina Ivanova in at London home.
2014 Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan dies after suffering a stroke in Austin, Texas.
2015 Scott Weiland discovered dead in tour bus outside motel in Bloomington MN.
2023 April Wine lead singer and guitarist Myles Goodwyn dies at 75 in Halifax, NS.
