John Michael Osbourne. Most people just call him Ozzy. Or the Prince of Darkness. Or that guy who bit the head off a bat that one time. But if you’re looking for the specifics of his entry into this world, let’s get the numbers out of the way first.
Ozzy Osbourne was born in 1948. Specifically, he arrived on December 3, 1948. It was a Friday. The world was still dusting itself off after World War II, and Birmingham, England, was a gray, industrial landscape of brick and soot. If you want to get really technical, he was born at the Marston Green Maternity Hospital in Warwickshire.
Life in the "Bomb Pecks"
You’ve gotta understand the vibe of 1940s Birmingham to get why Ozzy became Ozzy. He grew up in the Aston area. It wasn't exactly a playground. He lived in a tiny two-bedroom house at 14 Lodge Road with five siblings and his parents, Jack and Lilian. Imagine eight people crammed into two rooms. Not much privacy there.
His dad, Jack, worked the night shift as a toolmaker. His mom, Lilian, was at a factory making car parts. It was a classic working-class setup. Ozzy often talked about the "bomb pecks"—those empty, rubble-filled lots left behind by Nazi air raids. That was his backyard.
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Honestly, school was a nightmare for him. He dealt with dyslexia back when teachers didn't really have a name for it; they just thought you were "slow" or difficult. He was bullied. He was even abused by older kids at age 11, something he didn't talk about publicly until much, much later in his life.
The Beatles Changed Everything
By the time 1963 rolled around, Ozzy was a teenager. He heard "She Loves You" by the Beatles on the radio, and basically, his brain exploded. He decided right then he was going to be a rock star. It sounds like a cliché, but for a kid in Aston with zero prospects, it was a legitimate lifeline.
He dropped out of school at 15. The resume he built after that is kind of hilarious in a dark way. He was a:
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- Construction laborer
- Trainee plumber (didn't last)
- Apprentice toolmaker
- Car factory horn-tuner
- Slaughterhouse worker
That last one is where people think he got his "affinity" for blood, but he mostly just said it was a job that paid. Eventually, he tried his hand at burglary. He wasn't good at it. He got caught stealing baby clothes—he thought they were adult clothes in the dark—and spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison because his dad refused to pay the fine.
The Birth of Heavy Metal
After jail, he put an ad in a music shop: "OZZY ZIG Needs Gig – has own PA."
That ad is the reason we have heavy metal. It led him to Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. They formed a band called Earth, which eventually became Black Sabbath in 1969. They wanted to make music that felt like a horror movie. In 1970, they released their self-titled debut, and the world of music changed forever.
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Why We’re Looking Back Now
It’s heavy to talk about, but Ozzy’s story reached a final chapter recently. After years of battling Parkinson’s disease and various spinal issues, Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22, 2025, at the age of 76.
Just weeks before he died, he performed a final "Back to the Beginning" show in his hometown of Birmingham. It was a charity gig, a way to say goodbye to the city that built him. His son, Jack, has since shared that the family still feels his presence, even mentioned seeing him in dreams, laughing.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the history of the man born in 1948, here is how to actually experience the legacy:
- Listen to the "Big Three": To understand his 1970s peak, listen to Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality in order. It's the blueprint for everything heavy.
- Watch the 2011 Documentary: God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is probably the most honest look at his life, produced by his son Jack. It doesn't shy away from the darker parts of his history.
- Read "I Am Ozzy": His autobiography is surprisingly funny and very "Brummie." It gives a lot of context to those early years in Aston.
- Explore the Solo Years: If you only know Sabbath, go listen to Blizzard of Ozz. Randy Rhoads' guitar work combined with Ozzy's vocals is a different kind of magic.
Ozzy wasn't just a singer; he was a survivor of a very specific time and place. 1948 Birmingham wasn't designed to produce icons, but somehow, it gave us the Prince of Darkness.