![]() ![]() In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named “Ozzy bites head off bat” as rock’s second wildest ever myth (behind the 1969 story that Beatle Paul McCartney had been dead for three years).ĭecades on, Osbourne continues to monetise it. The sleeve of his 1986 album The Ultimate Sin featured a bat with Osbourne’s head on it, while bat wings appeared on Ozzy merchandise from keyrings to pin badges. As it did, Osbourne fully co-opted the tale into his image. The nurse on duty in the Des Moines hospital on the night said “50 per cent” of her job for the following week was fielding calls from journalist and fans from as far as the UK. Members of the local Humane Society said they would attend the gig to make sure the incident wasn’t repeated (the headline accompanying this story punned that officials were “aflutter” over the situation). There was panic in Wisconsin, where Osbourne was due to play a few nights later. Meanwhile, the Des Moines Animal Control Unit visited the arena to try to find the decapitated bat’s body. ![]() with bat taste in mouth.” In the article the city’s Mayor, Pete Crivaro, demanded to know if the singer had violated an agreement not to use animals in his act. The Des Moines Register ran a story with the headline: “Rock singer leaves D. ![]() The incident – which happened 40 years ago this week – made local, national and international news. The incident – which happened 41 years ago – made local, national and international news. It cost him $500 and he was given four days’ worth of follow-up shots to take. Then the head in my mouth twitched.”Īs soon as the show was over, Osbourne was rushed to the Broadlawns Medical Centre where he was given rabies and tetanus shots. “I could feel it staining my teeth and running down my chin. “For a start, my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid, with the worst aftertaste you could ever imagine,” he said. Recalling the incident later, the self-styled Prince of Darkness immediately knew something was “very wrong”. ![]() The 5,000-strong audience looked on aghast. The 33-year-old picked the mammal up, placed its head in his mouth, and chomped. During this show, Osbourne saw a live bat land on the stage in front of him. It’s safe to say you wouldn’t get this at a Coldplay concert.īut strange as this offal-based “call and response” was, no one was prepared for what happened at the Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, on the night of 20 January 1982. Fans would reciprocate by throwing their own animal parts on stage. As this hand extended out above the audience, the former Black Sabbath frontman would catapult pig intestines and calves’ livers into the crowd. As it reached its climax, Osbourne would emerge through swirling dry ice on a huge hovering hand. It featured flaming torches, medieval balconies, 20-feet-high stained-glass windows and a cameo appearance by a dwarf in a cassock called Ronnie. It was an all-guns-blazing heavy metal extravaganza set in a mock gothic castle. Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman concert tour of 1981-82 was not a production blessed with subtlety. The species played a central role in Osbourne’s most notorious ever gig – one that has gone down in rock ‘n’ roll folklore. But one constituent that may breathe a sigh of relief is the world’s bat population. Osbourne retains a commanding stage presence, has a strong voice for a man in his eighth decade, and remains a hell of a showman. Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way.”įans will rightly be devastated. “Believe me when I say that the thought of disappointing my fans really f-cks me up, more than you will ever know. “This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to share with my loyal fans,” the 74-year-old said as he cancelled upcoming European and UK tour dates. The former Black Sabbath frontman said that a damaged spine stemming from a fall in 2019 has left him physically weak, despite endless operations and rounds of treatment. Ozzy Osbourne has announced his permanent retirement from touring after decades of raising hell. ![]()
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