The Kismet Between Johnny Cash and Ozzy Osbourne (RIP)
The Prince of Darkness has passed on, leaving an irreplaceable legacy in the history of popular music. From revolutionizing rock with his brothers in Black Sabbath, to his solo career and work with Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osborne instilled a Gothic power in music that previously was only the domain of ancient symphonies and operatic movements.
People loved to buy into the mess and the mythology of Ozzy Osborne. Yet despite the wild stories of snorting ants or biting the heads off of bats, the Ozzy Osborne legacy was one of speaking out against war and injustice through music, of using a strong Christian faith to overcome personal demons, and specifically, a story of addiction and recovery. It also happens to be that a country music legend played a role in that story.
Ozzy Osborne never wanted anything to do with country music, and not in a way a country fan would find insulting, but in a way that was endearing. He had too much respect for country music and himself to prop a cowboy hat on his head and act like he had any business being a country artist—a philosophy we wish some pop and rock stars of today would adopt.
In 2016 amid Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler’s “country” foray, Osborne was asked about “going country” and said,
“Not me, thank you. Personally, I think you should stick to what you know best. If Steven [Tyler]’s having a good time with it, who am I to complain? But it would be absurd for me to do that. I don’t mind country, but the ‘Prince of Darkness’ with a cowboy hat? I’m a rock & roller, not a fucking country bumpkin.”
Ozzy’s take was so refreshing, you didn’t even take offense to the country bumpkin remark.
Osborne might have never made country, but he definitely made an impact on the genre as an influence. Carrie Underwood is known for covering “Mama, I’m Coming Home” in concert since the song comports with Underwood’s Christian faith.
Just last week, independent country artist Alex Williams released an album of metal covers done country style called Space Brain, and leading the album off is a cover of “Flying High Again” with fellow country artist Cody Jinks. Many modern Outlaw country artists have heavy metal in their DNA, and look at Ozzy as an influence or hero. But only one could call him a peer and friend. It happens to be that the Prince of Darkness was an acquaintance of The Man in Black.
There were many similarities between Ozzy Osborne and Johnny Cash. They both were troubled souls. They both took a dark approach to their music and their stage attire. The were both devout Christians. And they both struggled with addiction, with each doing multiple stints at the Betty Ford Clinic trying to get clean. In 1986, they both ended up in the clinic together, and struck up a friendship.
Ozzy once said of Johnny, “I met Johnny Cash in rehab, and he was just so cool. I mean, here’s this guy who’s done everything I’ve done—drugs, booze—but he still had this aura about him. He gave me hope.”
It’s often the most troubled of artists who also give rise to the most inspired art. They’ve experienced the darkness in themselves, and in the universe. But just like Johnny Cash, the story of Ozzy Osborne was one of redemption. Johnny got his swan song recording with Rick Rubin, and being introduced to an entire new generation of fans. Just a couple of weeks ago, Ozzy Osborne reunited with Black Sabbath, and played a final farewell concert that was viewed by millions.
It wasn’t just the music that intrigued us about these two men. It was the men themselves, and how they walked through the darkness of life, and turned it into light through music.
Ozzy Osborne passed away at the age of 76 on Tuesday, July 22nd. He’d been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.
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July 22, 2025 @ 6:28 pm
But it would be absurd for me to do that.
It was absurd for Steven Tyler to do it, too. Good for Ozzy for having the self-awareness not to go that route.
I heard the Alex Williams/Cody Jinks collaboration a few weeks ago and thought it was cool. Didn’t know he’d recorded a whole album of metal covers in that vein.
July 22, 2025 @ 6:32 pm
Nice write up Trig. Thank you. Both of these legends have been a part of my life for decades, albeit obviously in different ways. The Rock/Metal world is mourning today, but at least we got to enjoy seeing the real Black Sabbath play together 1 last time, and it meant the world to us. RIP Ozzy, you were one of a kind.
July 22, 2025 @ 6:56 pm
I was a fan of Sabbath and metal before country and was wondering if there’d be a write up about Ozzy here. Nice one.
Incidentally the Steel Woods included a great cover of “Changes” by Black Sabbath on their album Old News. Check it out if you haven’t already. Beautifuly done. Having a listen again now and getting misty eyed.
July 22, 2025 @ 7:07 pm
They also covered Sabbath’s Hole in the Sky on 2017’s Straw in the Wind.
July 22, 2025 @ 8:11 pm
Yes! I forgot about that.
July 22, 2025 @ 7:04 pm
Thanks for this tribute. I definitely felt a loss with his passing. Ozzy went solo when I was in high school, he was my first big arena show. And it was amazing. I think standing him up beside Johnny Cash is fitting.
July 22, 2025 @ 8:04 pm
The first two albums I bought were “The Best of The Guess Who” and “Paranoid.” Money well spent.
July 22, 2025 @ 9:59 pm
We could, all of us, do worse than taking advice from Ozzy’s final words;
“Fwudh dyuh gwudh foddugh.”
He and the rest of the Sabbath came from the working class and became legendary; a rarity today. (Nobody seems to reach that status anymore; they’re quickly forgotten all of them.) The vaudeville act of BS mixed with energic, if not necessarily competent musicianship helped create a genre.
That in itself isn’t half that bad for an epitaph.
And; send a thought to his family. They can now do whatever they please with his money and legacy, without being bothered by him.
Cheers, Ozzy!
July 23, 2025 @ 10:35 am
Quite possibly the most insufferable comment ever posted to this site.
But since it contains 4 semicolons in the span of 5 sentences, I’m going to hope it came from ChatGPT and not someone’s oxygen deprived head lodged in their own ass.
July 25, 2025 @ 5:19 pm
What about this article made you think poor, ugly-spirited writing about this man was what we all wanted to see?
July 23, 2025 @ 2:40 am
“He had too much respect for country music and himself to prop a cowboy hat on his head and act like he had any business being a country artist—a philosophy we wish some pop and rock stars of today would adopt.”
Also a philosophy we wish some (so called) country stars of today would adopt…
July 23, 2025 @ 9:37 am
“I don’t mind country, but the ‘Prince of Darkness’ with a cowboy hat? I’m a rock & roller, not a fucking country bumpkin.”
Yeah, so much respect for country music… Kyle got that one wrong.
July 23, 2025 @ 10:33 am
Aww a easily offended if you actually grew up in the south you’d know a lot of folks refer to themselves as that.
July 23, 2025 @ 5:48 pm
What makes you think that’s disrespectful?
July 23, 2025 @ 5:47 am
in the immortal words of George Jones: “who’s gonna fill their shoes?”
July 25, 2025 @ 4:56 pm
The local Asheville classic rock FM radio station played Sabbath and solo Ozzy songs for over two hours the afternoon he died.The last time something like that happened was when Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd died. They played the entire “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn” album. At least there’s a few radio stations that remember the founding fathers.
July 23, 2025 @ 5:54 am
As a young teen Sabbath was my favorite band. I saw them twice as some of my first concerts, once with Blue Oyster Cult, and once with Boston. Iv’e seen Ozzy several times beginning with seeing him at a the local fairground gym in Bakersfield with Motorhead, and maybe a couple hundred fans. The only show I saw with Randy Rhodes. Also got to see him at the US Festival days before I joined the Army, and again at Monsters Of Rock in Germany after I joined. At least 3-4 times in between. Don’t think I’ve seen anyone in concert more than Ozzy.
You see a lot of celebrities pass on over the years, and you feel bad, but they are not someone you really know. This one hits different. Ozzy has been pretty much been a constant soundtrack to most of my life. Even though Metal isn’t my primary genre of listening anymore, I still enjoy listening to the Prince Of Darkness. It’s a huge loss for those of us who grew up riding the Crazy Train. RIP Ozzy!
July 23, 2025 @ 11:56 am
When I was a drifting, wide-eyed college kid in 1980, Blizzard of Ozz had just dropped in the UK. For reasons lost to time (or maybe lost in customs), the U.S. release was delayed—yet the tour was already booked. Instead of scrapping the dates, Ozzy and the band came over anyway and played to half-empty theaters, smallish arenas… and, as it happened, me.
I followed that tour around for nearly three weeks—sleeping in my car, haunting record store appearances, and catching every show I could. Somewhere along the line, they noticed. Maybe it was my dumb grin. Maybe it was the fact that I kept showing up. But one night, they invited me to dinner. Ozzy, Sharon, and Randy Rhoads, sitting across from me in a Steak and Ale, treating me like part of the crew. I brought my SLR camera to the next show—and instead of getting stopped at the door, I got a front-row view, with Randy and Ozzy mugging for the lens like I was their personal photographer.
Ozzy even teased me afterward: “Look at you—real photog, huh? Got the camera sideways like you’re shooting for Rolling fookin’ Stone!” He and Randy both leaned into it. They were performing for me as much as the crowd. It was surreal, it was raw, and it remains one of the greatest memories of my life.
And that’s the thing about Ozzy. Behind the madness and mayhem, I saw a generosity of spirit, a deep loyalty, and a kind of strange, beautiful gravity that pulled people in. He never stopped being the Prince of Darkness, but I’d wager he never stopped being real, either. I lost touch with them long ago, and I make no claim to have known Ozzy as anything more than a fan who was lucky enough to share a few moments. Our paths went separate ways, but…
Randy, of course, left us far too soon. I still have those photos—of him in mid-leap, in full flight, absolutely electric. You could feel the future pouring out of his guitar, and it’s a future we’ll never fully know. But Ozzy carried that light forward. You could feel the loss in his music, but also the love. He never let Randy’s memory fade, and neither will I.
Now, with Ozzy gone, it feels like a circle closing. But maybe—just maybe—he and Randy are playing together again tonight, somewhere beyond the lights.
Rest easy, Ozzy. And tell Randy we still remember.
July 24, 2025 @ 4:18 am
Great story, thanks for sharing. I saw Ozzy with Randy here with Motorhead opening. It was one of the best shows I ever saw. Yes ……. we still remember ……. and we’ll never forget.
July 30, 2025 @ 8:50 pm
I was at that show as well, I saw a number of shows at the Aragon back then because I was living in Minneapolis at the time and Chicago was a pretty easy drive. The first Ozzy show I caught was in OH and I tried to keep up with the tour, although I had to pass on a few along the way as it was just too far to drive by myself. I was crashing in my car by the busses (under the train bridge behind the Aragon) in Chicago when one of Motörhead crew took pity on me and told their manager, Graham. Next thing I know, Graham’s handing me a backstage pass and saying, “The more, the merrier, mate!”. I don’t recall that show being very well attended but I have some great pictures of both bands there.
July 27, 2025 @ 5:21 pm
Great story. I didn’t know Black Sabbath’s music and only knew of Ozzy by his rep, but I’ve read a bunch of articles about him since he died and in one way or another everybody who knew him said pretty much the same thing you did about him as a man: “a generosity of spirit, a deep loyalty, and a kind of strange, beautiful gravity that pulled people in. He never stopped being the Prince of Darkness, but I’d wager he never stopped being real, either.” Doesn’t get much better than that. Makes perfect sense that he and Johnny Cash would connect.
July 23, 2025 @ 2:05 pm
I was a punk/metal guy way before i was into country and those Sabbath and Ozzy albums are undeniably the foundation of almost every thing i grew up on. I feel blessed to have been on Ozzy listening tear lately after that farewell concert… Mama I’m Coming Home hits different today, that’s for sure.
Do yourself a favor and check out Charles Bradley covering Changes. His version has an entire story behind it too.
https://youtu.be/zfaOf70M4xs?si=aOJj2c7WwimGzWOO
July 23, 2025 @ 4:33 pm
Ozzy may not have wanted much to do with country music, but Southern Rock was all over what many consider to be his greatest post Randy Rhoads record (if not his best, period), 1991’s “No More Tears.” From the acoustic lilt of “Mama, I’m Coming Home” to the slide guitar in “AVH,” there’s ample evidence of some love of at least country-adjacent sounds. I’ve always thought of that album’s closer, “Road to Nowhere” as expressing the same yearning for days gone by as some of the best country songs.
July 23, 2025 @ 8:56 pm
The songs you mentioned were either written by, or along with long time Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde. He has a long history of playing southern rock including his first side band Pride and Glory which was southern rock. His two solo albums Book Of Shadows 1-2 are southern rock and a few country songs. And his band of the last 15 years or so, Black Label Society, has featured southern rock songs often. He also occasionally does shows as a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band with friends, while Black Label covered Skynyrd’s I Never Dreamed on their Mafia album.
Worth checking out for anyone who likes their southern rock with a little metal mixed in sometimes.
July 24, 2025 @ 8:56 am
I know that the “cult of Randy” is strong but I will say that Zakk Wylde was the only Ozzy guitarist who brought anything new to the picture afterward. He brought some of the blues back into the picture, along with those distinctive pinch harmonics squeals that he freely admitted were inspired by Billy Gibbons. Admittedly, Zakk’s influence on the writing declined somewhat precipitously after “No More Tears,” partly because Ozzy didn’t want his stuff to sound like Pride and Glory or Black Label Society. I will say, though, that on Ozzy’s guest-laden last record, “Patient Number 9,” Zakk’s playing is every bit as distinctive and great as the guitar gods (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Tony Iommi) who also contributed.
July 23, 2025 @ 4:36 pm
Kismet? They both slept with Marlene Dietrich?
RIP Ozzy
July 24, 2025 @ 2:59 am
Class tribute sir, I Doff my cap to you.
July 24, 2025 @ 3:28 pm
Hey Trigger,
Definitely do not forget Ozzy’s charitable side. This man gave more $$ and time to charity than almost anyone. His last concert, 2 weeks ago, raised $190 Million for 3 charities:Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Acorns Children’s Hospice, and to Cure Parkinson’s. Amazing and this only describes one.
July 24, 2025 @ 7:14 pm
Ozzy and The Man In Black ????????????????? DANG !!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE let me sleep on this one.RIP,Ozzy,you were one of one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 24, 2025 @ 8:12 pm
Bob Wayne did a Black Sabbath/Christmas music mashup record last year or something. Everyone was influenced by Ozzy in some way whether they liked it or not, mostly as cautionary tales probably. A real icon and bridge builder who will not be soon forgotten.
July 25, 2025 @ 9:38 am
After reading these comments i am glad to know I am not the only one here who was a later arrival to country music not growing up on it. Ozzy’s solo albums came out when I was in high school. I didnt have to buy the albums cause a close friend was a big Ozzy fan and he played them nonstop when we hung out together. That and Iron Maiden. I first got exposed to Ozzy when Paranoid came on a AM heavy metal station. Can imagine how long ago that was. Loved that song and had to run out to buy the black sabbath album
August 5, 2025 @ 7:49 pm
As a big metal fan, I’m glad you wrote that ode to Ozzy – very cool. I try to imagine what it would be like to be present when Johnny Cash & Ozzy Osbourne met!
They certainly both dealt with inner demons of their own in their illustrious careers.