Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne passed away Tuesday at the age of 76, and while he may have been known as the Prince of Darkness, KISS rocker Gene Simmons says he was far from a scary person.
Simmons met Ozzy 50 years ago when KISS and Black Sabbath were first starting out. He tells ABC News, “The Ozzy I got to know was decidedly different than the Prince of Darkness that millions of people around the world think of as Ozzy.”
Simmons says Ozzy was a “pure soul” who “never said anything bad about anybody.”
“Even onstage, the Prince of Darkness would jump up and you know what he’d say to his fans? He’d blow kisses at them and saying, ‘I love you,’” Simmons shares. “That’s not the best way to scare people. He was a sweetheart … and that’s what makes it even more devastating.”
For Simmons there was no one quite like Ozzy; he suggests that while many artists are inspired by other musicians, that wasn’t the case with Ozzy.
“There was no Ozzy before Ozzy,” he says. “Ozzy was what scientists call a singularity.”
And while Ozzy never copied anyone, Simmons has no doubt there will be plenty of musicians copying Ozzy.
“Trust me, there are going to be a lot of Ozzys from now on,” he says. “They’re all going to studying him, but he was unique and a giant.”
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