No Ozzy retrospective would be complete without mentioning the most infamous moment in rock history.
On January 20, 1982, during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa, someone threw what Ozzy believed was a rubber bat onto the stage.
It wasn't. Thinking it was fake, Ozzy picked it up......and bit its head off.
It was very real. He was immediately rushed to the hospital for rabies shots.
Decades later, people still asked him about it more than almost anything else.
But Wait... There Was Also A Dove
Months before the bat incident, Ozzy had another infamous animal encounter.
While meeting with record executives, he intended to release two doves as a symbol of peace. Instead...He reportedly bit the head off one of them after a day of heavy drinking.
Needless to say, the meeting did not go as planned.
The Alamo Incident
In 1982, Ozzy was arrested after drunkenly urinating on the Alamo Cenotaph monument in San Antonio while wearing one of Sharon Osbourne's dresses.
He was banned from performing in San Antonio for years. Eventually, Ozzy apologized, donated to preservation efforts, and made peace with the city.
Only Ozzy could turn one of the most embarrassing moments of his life into one of rock's greatest stories.
OH, The Time He Snorted... Ants?
One of the craziest stories came from Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx. While partying on tour in the 1980s, Ozzy allegedly saw ants crawling on the ground...
Got on his hands and knees...And snorted a line of them.
Whether every detail has grown into rock-and-roll mythology or not, it's become one of the most legendary backstage stories ever told. I am sure there are many, many more we're not even aware of.