Is Ozzy Osbourne Religious?

Written by Jeff Campbell in Band Members,Heavy Metal Last Updated November 17, 2022

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Ozzy Osbourne isn’t the first artist associated with heavy metal and bringing Satanic imagery and the occult into the world of mainstream music. Though his songs use dark imagery, is Ozzy Osbourne religious?

Here is what I discovered:

Ozzy Osbourne is a Christian and a member of the church of England. He prays before every performance but doesn’t read the Bible as he claims the Bible is written in a language he doesn’t understand.

Ozzy was one of the co-founders of the band Black Sabbath.

It rose to popularity because of the dark imagery in the lyrics it’s composed. The band’s use of heavy metal and strong use of low riffs produced frightening music, but they never endorsed satanism.

So, get your bibles, and let’s find out more about Ozzy Osbourne being a man of God.

Did Black Sabbath use Satanic Imagery?

Black Sabbath’s NIB album is unarguably the one where the band uses the most satanic imagery, such as upside-down crosses and lyrics talking about Satan. But the name itself refers to a gathering of witches performing rituals.

It’s hard to uncover how different individuals define devilish music.

In the modern era, love for devilish music isn’t about vilifying darkness and misery. But it’s also about unveiling the regimented codes of society at large.

Here are the most notable songs from Black Sabbath that display satanic imagery:

  • The Devil Cried 
  • Lady Evil
  • Electric Funeral
  • Hand of Doom
  • War Pigs
  • Children of the Grave

When the band talks about doom and gloom in all these songs, they never invite individuals to involve in occult practices. On the contrary, the songs are composed more in the spirit of lifting the burden of evil practices in society.

These intense imageries can either be taken as a warning against resistance at present or as an indication of the troubled future if the existing norms prevail.

As far as the band’s association to the Devil himself is concerned, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler confessed to a magazine:

“We were very interested in the satanic side of stuff – certainly Geezer and myself. We were interested in the occult just out of curiosity… We wondered what would happen if we did certain things, just like we wondered about life after death. We got into all sorts of stuff. Maybe it was the drugs in those days – I don’t know! And we’re still using that imagery with Heaven & Hell.”

On the contrary, Ozzy and Bill Ward never participated in such practices. Ozzy said: I do have my beliefs and my beliefs are certainly not satanic.

Does Ozzy Osbourne actually go to church?

Ozzy Osbourne is a member of the Church of England, although he does not frequently attend or go on a regular basis.

He says: ‘If I’d have gone to church, I’d still be there now, confessing all my sins!’ When every other contemporary band was rising to fame with a unique style, Black Sabbath took to stage with an unexpected genre in music-horror.

Osbourne believed if people pay to watch horror movies, why not include horror in music.

The band displayed the world as a picture of the devil’s side that musicians usually refrained from touching. But their devilish music neither hid Ozzy’s good side nor highlighted it.

Ozzy recently appeared for an interview with GQ magazine. On being asked, Are you a religious man? Here is what Ozzy answered:

“I’ve tried reading the Bible, but it’s in a language that I don’t understand. Someone should do a version in my language.”

source

Has Ozzy Osbourne always been religious?

Ozzy Osbourne has not always been religious but officially joined the Church of England in 1992 and began praying before each performance.

But, of course, over the years, the so-called Prince of Darkness has engaged in many behaviors most religions would frown upon. Granted, most of those were before he first found sobriety.

Ozzy’s wife Sharon asked him to throw a pair of doves in the air, and the Black Sabbath frontman ended up throwing one and biting the head off the other. It freaked everybody.

It is not just one unreligious act that Osbourne has committed in his career. 

He has once thrown raw pieces of meat on the audience and bit a bat’s head off because he thought it was hilarious. (source)

In the music industry, Black Sabbath isn’t the only heavy metal band whose religion has been questioned. Judas Priest is another name that comes to mind when bands have used agonizing imagery to evoke reactions. 

Read my recent article where I point out that like Ozzy, Judas Priest also have some Christians in the band and are hardly Satanists. But not every Priest member is a Christian.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

Does Ozzy Osbourne really pray before every show?

Ozzy Osbourne does pray before every show and has done that since becoming a member of the Church of England in 1992.

So, despite frequent references to Satan and the Devil, he prays before every performance. My research led me to find a particular comment made by a fan.

He says:

Ozzy hasn’t spoken publicly about his faith since 1992, but Christianity continues to be a subtle part of who he is. The band has been seen wearing crosses in several interviews and even taking time to kiss the cross now and then.

Well, kissing a cross certainly doesn’t sound demonic to me.

So, despite frequent references to Satan and the Devil, he prays before every performance. My research led me to find a particular comment made by a fan.

Was Ozzy Osbourne ever an atheist?

Osbourne has repeatedly confirmed in interviews and magazines that while he may not be a dedicated Christian who attends church regularly, he is definitely not an atheist.

He says; there is some higher power, and I don’t have a better name for it than “God.”

The horror elements of Black Sabbath’s music may have sent chills down your spine for years, but those elements should not be considered anything more than a part of fiction.

Exploring the internet in the hope of finding a concrete answer about Ozzy’s religion, I stumbled upon this particular comment by a Black Sabbath fan on Quora.

In his book Off the Rails: Aboard the Crazy Train in the Blizzard of Ozz, bassist Rudy Sarzo recounts an incident after the death of guitarist Randy Rhodes in 1982.

source

Sarzo left the hotel the band was staying in and went to the nearest church to pray.

On getting there, he saw a man crying uncontrollably over the altar. After a while, the man started to say, “Why, why?” and Sarzo realized it was Osbourne.

This recount by Sarzo seems a legitimate point in answering that Ozzy is a man of belief. An atheist’s first instinct won’t be to go to church to pray after a friend’s death, let alone cry uncontrollably.

Ordinary Man - The Ozzy Osbourne Story ┃ Documentary

Conclusion

It’s been 50 years now, and Ozzy is still not planning on retiring any soon.

In the initial years of discovering himself as a musician, Ozzy was deeply influenced by the English occultist, poet, and novelist Aleister Crowley.

Still, his controversial start never got in between his music’s dark imagery and his belief that a superpower exists and is called God. Ozzy continued to cultivate the image of a Satanist through his music frequently.

His anti-social theatrics even got him public notoriety. From showering meat on the audience to biting a bat’s head in live concerts, Ozzy Osbourne has not shied away from depicting himself as a religious man.

Photo which requires attribution:

OZZY en Chile 2011 by Carlos Varela is licensed under CC2.0 and was cropped and ha a text overlay added

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