How Jewish was Ozzy Osbourne?

Osbourne was inspired to become a musician when he first listened to The Beatles' hit She Loves You when he was 14-years-old. He left school at the age of 15 and worked in various jobs, including at a slaughterhouse and testing car horns, before forming the band in 1968.

With an original lineup of guitarist Tony Lommi, bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and of course, Osbourne himself, the band was first called Earth but was renamed Black Sabbath a year later.

The name came from Butler who was inspired by a 1963 horror film of the same name. Yet the term has significant, if perhaps unintended, Jewish connotations. 'Black Sabbath' is the name given to the last Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, with the latter considered the darkest day of the Jewish year.

Osbourne met his future wife and manager, then Sharon Arden, shortly after getting into the music industry. Sharon is the daughter of music manager Don Arden and dancer Hope Shaw. Her father was an Ashkenazi Jew of Russian descent and Shaw was Irish and non-Jewish, though they raised their daughter in the Jewish faith.

Last year, Osbourne told the JC that her father put Judaism “at the heart of our household”, adding: “Judaism is the only religion I have and the only one I’m comfortable with.”

She also told Jewish News that since the start of her relationship, Osbourne would ask her "why don't people like Jews?" and that he was "so confused" by antisemitism and wanted to understand it.

Osbourne first performed in Israel in 2010 at Ozzfest in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.

Asked at the time about artists who had cancelled performances under political pressure he told reporters: “I try to stay away from politics. They don’t understand me, and I don’t understand them.”

The couple used the occasion to visit Jerusalem’s Old City, the Western Wall and Yad Vashem before the concerts.

Speaking to the JC, the Osbourne said: “We were very pleased to have the opportunity to come to Israel and visit the holy sites.”

He also had a large fan base in Israel. Israeli promoters said his two shows attracted tens of thousands of fans and even helped pave the way for other heavy metal acts to ignore consistent anti-Israel pressure and travel to the country to give their fans what they want.

Stalwart supporters of both the Jewish faith and Israel, just earlier this year, the Osbournes were part of more than 200 entertainment and business figures signing an open letter demanding an inquiry into “systematic bias against Israel” at the BBC.