John Michael Osbourne was born on December 3, 1948 in Birmingham, England. Throughout an extraordinary career, which has so far spanned four decades, Osbourne has made major contributions to the worlds of music and popular culture. As co-founder and lead singer for Black Sabbath (1970-79, 1997 to present) he was, in effect, one of the chief architects of the genre now known as “heavy metal,” creating the powerful new sound and provocative performance style that would forever expand the definition of rock music. Black Sabbath has sold more than 25 million records in the U.S. alone. Osbourne is also known for biting the head off of a bat a fan threw on stage during a concert. He was sent to the hospital for a rabies shot and claimed he thought the bat was fake.

In 1980, Osbourne debuted as a solo artist to widespread popular acclaim. Over the next two decades, his career continued to gain momentum with a continuous string of multi-platinum albums, and he has ... read more »