He may have been the “Prince of Darkness,” but everything in Ozzy Osbourne’s home was apparently above board. That is, according to his son, Jack, who’s now coming to his father’s defense.
During a recent interview with comedian Jamie Kennedy, the younger Osbourne answered rumors that his famous dad, a heavy metal singer, was involved in some way in Satanic worship or the occult.
“I’ve never seen it,” Jack Osbourne said definitively. “Nothing evil was ever in our household in that capacity.”
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The 40-year-old Osbourne went on to tell Kennedy his father, the frontman for Black Sabbath, “was a believer in Christ” and “had the Bible [and] wore a cross every day of his life.”
Ozzy Osbourne died of Parkinson’s disease in July of last year.
Questions about his spiritual beliefs are not unfounded. The British-born rock star was known for disturbing theatrics, including an infamous stunt in 1981, when he reportedly bit the head off a dove in front of CBS Records executives during the signing of his first solo record deal. He did something similar during a 1982 concert after an attendee threw a bat on stage.
The late legend sought to put rumors of occultism to bed in 1986, when he told SPIN magazine he was a Christian and regularly attended Sunday school as a child.
Jack Osbourne blamed the media for spreading rumors and innuendo about his dad, telling Kennedy his father’s experience is “why you cannot … ever trust the news.”
“It would be all over CNN or news stations, ‘Oh, Ozzy’s a Satanist who’s gonna do all this stuff because if you see this part in a song, it could be this and that,’” he said.
Because of Ozzy Osbourne’s checkered persona — and because Scripture makes it clear no one can fully know another person’s heart (1 Corinthians 2:11) — it’s not known for sure whether the singer was truly a Christian. The Bible does, though, indicate an individual’s spiritual makeup should be evidenced by his or her actions and behaviors (Matthew 7:16-20).
It is worth noting Dylan Novak, known as the “Celebrity Evangelist,” spoke to CBN News last year about his 2023 encounter with Ozzy Osbourne. The interaction with both Ozzy and Jack Osbourne, he said, left him encouraged.
“Ozzy was incredibly kind,” said Novak. “So, I get up to him, shake his hand, told him it was an honor to meet him, and after just kind of a brief introduction, I said, ‘The reason I came to meet you today is because I love and care about you and your soul.’”
During that same meeting, Novak recalled spending about 30 minutes talking with Jack Osbourne, with whom he also shared the Gospel.
“One of the things [Jack] said was, ‘Thank you for not thinking dad’s evil,’” Novak said.
The “Celebrity Evangelist” noted he came across Jack Osbourne two weeks later. The two spoke again and Jack Osbourne told Novak, “You have no idea how much dad loved that,” referring to Novak giving Ozzy Osbourne a personalized New Living Translation Bible.
“That Bible and your gift — that’s on his nightstand, and everybody that’s come over, he has shown them the Bible, shown them that his name is on there, that it’s where he can understand it,” he told Novak. “He said, it’s not in any way like, ‘Oh, look, someone brought me a Bible.’ It’s like, ‘I am honored I got this gift.’”
Watch our full interview with Novak:
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