The Only Punk Band Ozzy Osbourne Ever Liked (Even Though He Couldn't Stand the Singer)

By the late 1970s, punk rock was gaining momentum. Ozzy Osbourne, however, was already deep into his career, with Black Sabbath having helped lay the foundation for what would become heavy metal. While critics never warmed up to Sabbath’s sound, fans were more than loyal. Osbourne never saw punk as competition. In his view, it felt like punk bands were simply echoing ideas Sabbath had already put into play years earlier.

“It was like punk. The more people hated us, the more the fans loved us,” Ozzy said, brushing off criticism that had followed Sabbath from the start. He added, with his trademark sarcasm, “People who didn’t get it said, ‘This is @#$%!’ But I’ve got platinum records all over my wall. Couldn’t have been that bad.”

In 1978, while promoting Never Say Die!, Ozzy made it even clearer where he stood. The band was battling not just critics but also the weight of labels being thrown at them. “We almost called it quits because we were labeled as heavy metal. I don’t get it. What does ‘heavy metal’ even mean?” he asked. To him, it felt like the punk movement all over again. “It was a great idea, cheap to make, easy money for record labels. In the end, even they forgot what they had released.”

Ozzy disliked being boxed into categories. He rejected the idea of being a “rock star” and preferred to call himself just a rock and roll singer. Over time, even positive press made him wary. “Only once did I let it get to me. Not anymore. I never expected to be successful doing this.”

Credit: Reproduction / YT

Credit: Reproduction / YT

Credit: YT / The Graham Norton Show

That said, there was one punk band he actually did enjoy. “Punk was a spin-off of Sabbath. It was anti-establishment. The only one I liked was the Sex Pistols. That one album was great. It really caught something.” Still, true to form, Ozzy couldn’t resist taking a jab at their frontman. “But Johnny Lydon, or whatever his name is, needs to stop talking and make more music.”

Fast-forward to 1986. Metallica had just brought thrash metal into the mainstream, opening for Ozzy on a U.S. tour. Reporters asked for his thoughts on these new directions in heavy music. His answer came without sugarcoating. “I don’t judge anybody. I always think if people are into it, then there must be something good there. [But] I don’t like some of it. Thrash metal is too intense for me, and punk even worse. That’s what I don’t like.”

Credit: Reproduction / YT

Credit: YT / The Howard Stern Show

Credit: YT / The Howard Stern Show (1996)

In Ozzy’s opinion, both punk and thrash had energy, but not much else. To him, they lacked the depth and originality that early Black Sabbath delivered with riffs that were heavier, more deliberate, and less performative. He didn’t deny there was an audience for that kind of sound, but personally, he found it too loud and not saying much.

At the core, he saw punk and thrash as watered-down, reactionary versions of what Sabbath had already done, only rougher around the edges, angrier for the sake of it, and missing the eerie weight that Tony Iommi’s guitar work brought to life in the band’s early days.

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