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An Appraisal
Osbourne and Black Sabbath pioneered a horror-inspired heavy metal look that was an alternative to the colorful tie-dye of the hippies, and a prototype of things to come.
Published July 22, 2025Updated July 23, 2025, 6:22 a.m. ET
His journey from small-time criminal to heavy metal’s comic Prince of Darkness started with clothes.
Growing up in Birmingham, England, Ozzy Osbourne didn’t see much of a future for himself, so he decided to give it a go as a cat burglar. His main target, according to his 2009 memoir, “I Am Ozzy,” was a clothing shop not far from home. On his third attempt, he recalled, “I managed to nick some shirts.” But he was arrested soon afterward and sent to Winson Green Prison, a century-old facility that looked like a medieval fortress.
His six-week jail stint caused him to reconsider his plan to become a career criminal. He took jobs in an auto parts factory and a slaughterhouse. Inspired by the Beatles, he wanted more than anything to join a rock ’n’ roll band. The first step he took toward this unrealistic-seeming goal was to change his appearance: “I didn’t even know anyone who could play a musical instrument,” he recalled. “So, instead, I decided to grow my hair long and get some tattoos. At least I’d look the part.”
He was the same age as many of the young people who wore bright, flowing garments during the so-called Summer of Love, but he detested flower power. When he finally joined up with some old schoolmates to form Black Sabbath, he made his way toward a style that represented a dramatic departure from the cheerful hues favored by the tie-dye crowd. The hippies liked soft fabrics that reflected an innocent view of a world, where peace and love would win out in the end. Ozzy favored capes and heavy boots. He had gone to jail, not college.
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It took him a while to find a style that worked, especially before the money rolled in. “I’d walk around in an old pyjama top for a shirt with a hot-water tap on a piece of string for a necklace,” he wrote in his memoir, adding: “You had to use your imagination. And I never wore shoes — not even in winter. People would ask me where I got my ‘fashion inspiration’ from and I’d tell them: ‘By being a dirty broke bastard and never taking a bath.’”
