Tributes have been paid to Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne following his death at the age of 76. 

For many people, the British musician defined heavy metal with iconic songs such as Iron Man and Paranoid. 

A performer until the very end, he played a farewell gig in his home city of Birmingham only three weeks ago. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Hollywood journalist Jeanne Wolf, who interviewed  Osbourne, described his “crazy guy” persona as part of the appeal. 

“He’s very alluring because he liked to get around and then he got very serious about himself,” she recalled. 

“It was a little over a few weeks ago that he gave what he called his final concert. 

“He’s known for almost six years that he has Parkinson’s disease and he talked about the fact that he couldn’t stand it anymore. 

“You know all the medications, all the care and all that.” 

Ozzy and Sharon Osboune. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Despite all the wealth that came from his success, Ms Wolf continued that Osbourne’s life remained “pretty chaotic” well into old age. 

It was part of the reason why he and his family enjoyed huge success when they ventured into reality TV. 

“The thing that really changed everything for him, funny enough, with all his worldwide fame was the TV show that took cameras home to his house,” she added. 

“I laughed so hard at him because he said, ‘It’s one thing that they get me when I’m crazy but they get me when I’m taking out the trash. What do they think, I have a roadie who is assigned to doing the trash?’” 

But whatever his success as a TV star, Ms Wolf said at heart he will always be defined by his success as a “great musician”. 

“The musicians who are coming on now to say their goodbyes to him, they’re not just bowing to his stunts,” she said. 

“They do think he was a great musician but that his problem was that he couldn’t keep it together. 

“He wasn’t like Elton John who at some point in his life said, ‘I’m going to straighten things up.’ 

“No, Ozzy never reformed, even when he said he did.” 

Ms Wolf added that in the future many successful musicians will be simply “copying him”. 

“He was a true original and that was the best and the worst thing for him,” she said.

Osbourne is survived by his wife Sharon and his six children. 

Main image: Ozzy Osbourne. Picture by: Alamy.com.