The frontman of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne is the most influential person in history to influence heavy metal music. Also known as ‘Prince of Darkness’ he and the band have done their best to define their genre of heavy metal music.
Alongside him, John Lennon also impacted the rock scene. And that’s the reason many musicians follow his influences on music. Ozzy Osbourne is one of them and regards Lennon very highly. And while talking with Forbes he picked Lennon as the singer-songwriter he loves. He revealed that he loved John’s 1971 song, ‘Imagine’.
Ozzy said, “I must have played this album thousands of times over the years, The songs – ‘Imagine,’ ‘Jealous Guy,’ ‘Gimme Some Truth’ – are just timeless, which is the sign of what a great songwriter John Lennon was.”
He also explained to Forbes, “Lennon was a poet, a rebel, and had an incredible passion, all of which are so evident on this landmark album. I cannot believe that we will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year.”
The adoration he had for Lennon was unquestionable. He loved him when he was in the Beatles too. Osbourne was addicted to The Beatles in his initial days and revealed Lennon was his favorite. He even told everyone that he is a “driving force for humanity.” He also revealed, “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Ozzy remembered his first time meeting with his music. “I was walking around with a transistor radio on my shoulder. And ‘She Loves You ‘came on. And I don’t know, it just went, ‘Bang! And that’s what I want to do! Wouldn’t it be great?'”.
Also, Ozzy had to go through heart wrecking experience. In 1980 when he discovered Lennon’s murder, he commented, “The world stopped for me. I can’t even describe how I felt, But the amount of joy and hope that he gave people was just remarkable.”
Not only that, but Ozzy also had inspiration from John. Back in 1971 when Lennon talked about world peace in his song ‘Imagine.’ It inspired Ozzy to create the track ‘Dreamer’ which was in his 2001 album ‘Down to Earth’. Lennon created the song when he was reminded about it by his wife Yoko Ono. Osbourne also stated in his interview, “Since I’m such a fan of The Beatles, I unconsciously come up with melodies similar to theirs. It’s not that I was trying to write the next ‘Imagine,’ but I care about the earth and its places and about people, violence, and war. So it would be good if we could all get along, for we would have a much better world.”
Osbourne is a die-hard Lennon fan. His sound, his song, and everything resonate with the presence of Lennon. The Prince of Darkness surely has an intimate and soft spot for the Beatles. While he impacted rock music to such great heights, he surely had a gateway that led him to that road. And it was no other than Lennon.
