Read the tributes to Ozzy Osbourne since his death in July at the age of 76, and you’ll hear salutes to every side of his considerable skill set. The flesh-creeping feline yowl. The underrated ear for a melody. The knack for turning a macabre lyric. The madhouse stage presence.
But whatever else he was in life – heavy-metal icon, reality TV pioneer, berserker, survivor – Osbourne was no guitarist. As the Black Sabbath and solo star readily admitted, to cast him as a ‘musician’ in the traditional sense – or as an ‘instrumentalist’ in any sense – was off the mark.
