Ozzy Osbourne: A coffee with Ozzy

Yes, he was (in)famous for biting the head off a bat on stage, but the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne (1948–2025) runs far deeper. As the frontman for Black Sabbath, his voice powered classics like ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Paranoid’ before he was fired in 1979 for offstage chaos. Ozzy eventually got sober in 2013, after decades as heavy metal’s most unfiltered showman. 

This interview with Aussie music journalist Billy Pinnell was filmed in 1991 in a Melbourne café by The D-Generation's Santo Cilauro and Jason Stephens. Ozzy opens up about his beginnings, his reputation, his wife Sharon, and that bat incident – reflective, unguarded and not yet repackaged for reality TV.  The clip didn’t air until 2002, after The Osbournes made him a TV star. 

At one point, Ozzy recalls that Black Sabbath came up with their sound after watching people line up for horror films to get ‘the pants scared off them’. While Ozzy continues to riff on demons, drugs and darkness, Pinnell sips on a cappuccino and a police officer swings by for a sandwich. The setting subtly deflates the Ozzy mythos, revealing a gap between the spectacle and the man.