Have you ever heard me talk about him? Nope. Was he one of my favorite rock stars? Yup. But not for the reasons you may think. Oh, don’t get me wrong, folks! I’ve been a fan of the music all the way back to Sabbath and there are quite a few of their songs I listen to on repeat, not the least of which is “See You On The Other Side”, which I’ve probably listened to once a week since Zack flew the coop in favor of the not so fucking bat shit crazy place he’d been trapped in the months before he left. So? Since we’re just shy of a month away from the six year anniversary of his death, let’s do some math. 52 times 6? Yup. I’ve probably listened to it well over 300 times now!

Gene Simmons once said it best:

KISS frontman Gene Simmons paid tribute to longtime friend and rock legend Ozzy Osbourne during an appearance on “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday, describing the Black Sabbath icon as a “pure human being” and an “extraordinary individual.” Speaking from Los Angeles, Simmons reflected on his decades-long friendship with Osbourne, dating back to 1975 when KISS opened for Black Sabbath on their “Sabotage” tour.

“Ozzy was always just wonderful, heartfelt Ozzy, nonjudgmental, no airs about him,” Simmons said. “Reluctantly, I admit, sometimes I’m full of myself. Ozzy? Never.”

“I’ve never heard Ozzy ever say anything bad about anybody,” Simmons said. “When you meet somebody extraordinary, I don’t mean famous, because there are a lot of famous people who are putzes, myself sometimes as well, this was a pure human being – nonjudgmental.”

“Before Ozzy, there WAS no Ozzy. You can’t point to who it is that inspired Ozzy to be who he is. A totally extraordinary individual!”

(CBSnews.com)

Can you even imagine having such epic and powerful words spoken about you in life, much less in death and your “ever after” legacy? If only I’m as lucky one day for even a single person to say such beautiful words about me! So, here’s to me thinking about working a little harder on my “non-judgmental” piece of it all, ’cause EFF my often sanctimonious and judgmental, err, “Virgo-ness”!

Meanwhile, perhaps one of my favorite “humanities” about our now immortalized Prince Of Darkness is how he set the benchmark standard for all the rest of the freaks out here like me who simply cannot march to anyone else’s cadence but our own. Simply said? Ozzy made it seem almost normal to be the Jean-Claude Van DAMN effing mental freak of the world oddball I’m so “Ozzily” proud to be! If only there were a way to get Merriam-Webster to just use a picture of him for the word “immortal“, oh, what a beautiful thing it would be! There are literally no descriptive words necessary that way. Does anyone know who we can call to make this happen? I’m not EVEN joking! Dare I say that all of us oldies but goodies who were given carte Blanche by this man to reign PROUDLY and HAPPILY either out loud or in the little private bat cages of our minds had BEST be telling our grandkids all “aBAT” how he set us free! 

In the meantime …

Rest in peace, Mate! Here’s hoping you’re flying as free as the inner bat in all of us who came after you just a flap, flap, FLAPPIN’ our crazy little wings (and wearing black clothes and winter caps in the middle of a 666 degree Texas summer). As for me? I shall heretofore only ever refer to you as the Prince Of Dark AND Lightness!