Fans are mourning Ozzy Osbourne. There’s one tribute that gets us the most

As the world mourns Ozzy Osbourne, we look back on how the Prince of Darkness didn't just change music - he helped create modern reality TV as we know it.

Rebel Wylie

5 min read

July 23, 2025 - 2:01PM

Lifestyle

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In the wake of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, we look back at how his chaotic charm helped invent a genre - and how the Prince of Darkness died adored by millions.

Before the Kardashians curated their chaos, before MAFS turned heartbreak into dinner party entertainment, and even before Big Brother fully infiltrated the zeitgeist, there was The Osbournes - a foul-mouthed, batty, hilarious family show that changed television forever.

At the centre of it was Ozzy Osbourne: rock legend, heavy metal pioneer, and - as it turned out - accidental reality television star. In 2002, when MTV handed the Black Sabbath frontman and his eccentric family a camera crew, they weren’t entirely sure what they’d get. What followed was lightning in a bottle - a show so raw, ridiculous and unexpectedly relatable, it became a global sensation.

And just like that, a new genre was born.

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Before the Kardashians, there was The Osbournes. Image: Getty

The first family of reality TV

Ozzy didn’t just star in a hit show - he and his family defined the blueprint for the reality television empire that would follow. The Osbournes wasn’t slick or scripted. It was messy, chaotic, sweary and weird. It didn’t pretend to teach us anything or follow a neat storyline. It just let us watch - and we couldn’t look away.

It showed the world that there was appetite for something new. That watching a rockstar wander around his mansion yelling “Sharon!” while dodging tiny dogs and mumbling about remote controls could be appointment viewing.

And from that moment on, the floodgates opened. No Osbournes, no Kardashians. No Simple Life, no Real Housewives. No reality genre as we know it. Ozzy - without even trying - helped shape the television landscape for the next two decades.

From bat-biting rocker to beloved TV dad

Ozzy was never meant to be mainstream. He was the antihero of the music industry, infamous for biting the head off a bat mid-show and being fired from Black Sabbath for his out-of-control substance abuse. But when The Osbournes aired, something unexpected happened: the world fell in love with him - all over again.

Shuffling around his Beverly Hills mansion, mumbling expletives, dodging family pets and parenting his rebellious children, Ozzy revealed a side of himself that no album or tour ever had. He was vulnerable, bewildered, deeply loving and completely hilarious. He wasn’t playing a character. He was just being Ozzy - and that authenticity struck a chord.

With Sharon’s sharp tongue, Kelly’s bratty confidence, and Jack’s teen antics, the family became a global obsession. But it was Ozzy’s baffled dad energy that made the show iconic. He couldn’t work the remote. He couldn’t remember his passwords. He yelled at invisible things. He adored his family. And viewers adored him right back.

Ozzy and Sharon - icons. Image: Getty

A household divided (in the best way)

In my house, Ozzy held two different kinds of iconic status. My husband - a musician, raised on riffs and distortion - reveres Ozzy as the ultimate frontman, the godfather of metal, the unpolished genius who defined a genre. Meanwhile, I’m a pop culture vulture with a bookshelf full of rock biographies and a soft spot for reality TV in all its messy glory. For me, The Osbournes wasn’t just entertainment - it was a cultural shift.

It was the moment reality TV got real, before producers perfected the formula, before storylines were “lightly scripted,” and before celebrities built personal brands from confessional interviews and Instagram-friendly chaos. The Osbournes didn’t care about any of that. They were just being themselves - and they let us watch.

And that changed everything.

A genre built in their image

Though The Osbournes only ran for four seasons, its impact was seismic. It created a template still followed today: fly-on-the-wall filming, flawed celebrity families, chaotic pets, no filter. Ozzy didn’t chase fame - but fame found a new shape around him.

Without Ozzy and his endlessly quotable dysfunction, there likely wouldn’t be Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Selling Sunset, or the influencer-driven reality TV explosion we see today. He was reality TV’s original reluctant star - and that’s exactly what made him magnetic.

And unlike many of the reality stars who followed, Ozzy never tried to control the narrative. He didn’t craft a brand or play to the camera. He just let the world in - warts, dogs, and all.

The Prince of Darkness - and his family - invented reality tv. Image: The Osbournes - The Price of Reality

Adored until the end

News of Ozzy Osbourne’s death has hit fans hard. He was more than a musician. More than a reality star. He was a cultural icon - the kind you don’t get many of in one lifetime. But there is comfort in knowing that Ozzy left this world with the kind of love and recognition most artists only dream of.

Just days before his passing, Ozzy was honoured in an emotional tribute concert that celebrated Black Sabbath’s extraordinary legacy. For my husband and so many others who grew up with Ozzy’s voice in their ears and his lyrics in their bones, it was a powerful send-off. The atmosphere was electric, with fans and fellow musicians alike paying their respects to a man whose influence reached far beyond heavy metal.

Though frail in recent years, Ozzy remained sharp, witty, and deeply touched by the outpouring of love. For someone who had lived so wildly, so loudly, and so vulnerably in front of the world, it was the kind of goodbye that felt worthy of him.

A legacy like no other

Ozzy Osbourne didn’t set out to create reality TV. He didn’t need to. He was already a legend. But by opening his front door to MTV and allowing the cameras to capture his unfiltered life, he changed pop culture in ways no one could have predicted.

He taught us that you can be chaotic and beloved. That vulnerability is powerful. That even the Prince of Darkness can be a softie who just wants to be left alone in his lounge chair.

In a world full of curated personas and filtered lives, Ozzy’s rawness was radical. And it paved the way for a generation of shows that thrive on the very chaos he made entertaining.

Ozzy once said, “Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.” But he never lost his magic. Not on stage. Not on screen. Not in life.

As fans mourn the man who made metal mainstream and made reality TV a little more real, one thing is certain: Ozzy Osbourne didn’t just live a thousand lives - he let us live them with him.