EVANSVILLE – Ozzy Osbourne wouldn’t stop spraying people with a hose.
It was understandable. The temperature in Mesker Amphitheatre stormed past 90 degrees, leaving the throng of heavy metal fans drenched in sweat.
Well then, why not cool them down by drenching them with something a little more palatable, Osbourne thought. And to prove he was a magnanimous guy, he turned the hose on himself, too. He did it so much that he had to slick his dripping blonde mane out of his face, causing an Evansville Courier & Press reporter to compare the wildest man in the history of rock-n-roll to a greased up 1950s crooner.
It was probably one of the few times in Osbourne’s seven-decade career that anyone ever compared him to Elvis. But like Presley, he’ll go down as one of the most influential performers in music history.
The former Black Sabbath front man, trailblazing solo act, festival organizer and reality TV star died Tuesday after a long illness. He was 76 years old.
He played his final show just earlier this month, rocking the crowd from an ornate throne on stage in his hometown of Birmingham, England. Several bands he inspired joined him that day, including fellow music legends Metallica.
They were with him that boiling summer night at Mesker, too.
It was July 27, 1986, and Metallica was listed as his opener, promising a rare and spectacular one-two punch. But around 4:30 that afternoon, mere hours before the show, Metallica lead singer James Hetfield was riding his skateboard backstage when he fell trying to tackle a hill.
“He broke the fall with his left hand, which is his fret hand. Had it been the other hand, he might have been able to play tonight,” the band’s tour manger, Bobby Schneider, told the C&P at the time. “The band is very hurt they can’t play because they know they’ve got a lot of friends here. (They) even thought about going up without James, but it just wouldn’t be Metallica.”
That left the festivities to Osbourne alone. And he did not disappoint.
Playing for over 90 minutes to make up for the loss of the opener, he plowed through both Black Sabbath standards and his array of solo hits. A rendition of “Iron Man” sparked a prolonged standing ovation. And the thick pyrotechnics bathed the entire West Side in a thin layer of smoke.
The setlist also featured songs like “Killer of Giants,” which railed against nuclear war.
“I certainly don’t want to sound like some idiot who has suddenly developed a social conscience, but the truth is that I’m a father of three small children and I’d like to see them grow up in a peaceful world,” he said during the tour.
All the while 7,000 fans screamed themselves hoarse. They would show up for Osbourne several times over the years. He played both Mesker and Roberts Stadium multiple times. One date at the former came in April 1982, about a month after the death of his legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads and three months after an incident that would follow him for the rest of his career: the night he bit the head off a dead bat during a show in Des Moines, Iowa.
Someone had bizarrely hurled it on stage and he said he mistook it for a rubber toy. It left him with multiple rabies shots.
But Osbourne couldn’t be defined by one incident. Prudish suburbanites who spent their whole lives fearing him eventually invited him into their homes when he became a beloved reality TV star in the early 2000s. That didn’t pin him down, either, and despite multiple health problems and even more threats to never tour again, he kept playing for adoring audiences.
His career ended in the place he was born. And Metallica was right alongside him, just like they hoped to be that day in Evansville in 1986.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: In Evansville, an injury to Metallica couldn’t stop Ozzy Osbourne
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
