The animal rights organisation thanked Ozzy in a statement: “Ozzy Osbourne was a legend and a provocateur, but PETA will remember the ‘Prince of Darkness’ most fondly for the gentle side he showed to animals.”
Everyone is rightly mourning the loss of Ozzy Osbourne today. According to a statement shared by the late singer’s family, the legendary metal icon passed away last night at the age of 76.
The news hits especially hard following Black Sabbath’s final show, which saw Osbourne perform his emotional ballad ‘Mama I’m Coming Home‘. If there was one thing the concert proved, it was that Ozzy and the music of Sabbath are widely loved by all, despite the massive scrutiny they faced throughout their career.
Several have come out to honour the late singer. One such orginsation surprisingly paying tribute is PETA, one of the largest animal rights groups out there.
Following the news of Osbourne’s passing, PETA posted a statement online, sharing:
“Ozzy Osbourne was a legend and a provocateur, but PETA will remember the “Prince of Darkness” most fondly for the gentle side he showed to animals – most recently cats, by using his fame to decry painful, crippling declawing mutilations. Ozzy may have been the singer, but his wife, Sharon, and his daughter, Kelly, were of one voice when it meant protecting animals. Ozzy will be missed by animal advocates the world over.”s
For anyone who knows Osbourne’s lore, you’d already know why PETA’s statement has some irony to it. In the 80s, Osbourne used to have a ritual on tour where he’d encourage his audience to throw meat and animal parts at each other. “I always liked the old movies that used to have these custard-pie fights,” Osbourne explained in the documentary The Nine Live of Ozzy Osbourne.
In 1982, at the Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium, someone threw a live bat on stage. Thinking it was a rubber prop, the Prince of Darkness bit the head off of the bat, promptly ending the show. After immediately getting rushed off-stage, Osbourne was sent straight to a hospital to receive urgent rabies shots.
The incident was a ‘canon moment’ for Osbourne, and it followed his career. It also gave fuel for several religious groups to claim that metal music was a Satanic ritual.
However, Osbourne would later redeem himself in the eyes of the org. In 2020, Osbourne teamed up with PETA to be the face of its ad campaign against declawing cats, with the tagline “It’s an amputation. Not a manicure”.
In a PETA press release at the time of the ad, Osbourne said: “Amputating a cat’s toes is twisted and wrong. If your couch is more important to you than your cat’s health and happiness, you don’t deserve to have an animal! Get cats a scratching post – don’t mutilate them for life.”
Osbourne’s love for his pets was shown in his reality TV series, featuring his dogs Minnie, Maggie, Crazy Baby, Pip and Lola. Check out this clip below of Osbourne lovingly cursing out his cat Puss for threatening to steal his chicken.
RIP to the greatest who ever did it.
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