Following the passing of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne on July 22, both his solo work and his music with Black Sabbath have experienced a dramatic spike in streaming numbers on Spotify.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ozzy has gained over 6 million new monthly listeners since the announcement of his death, while Black Sabbath’s monthly listeners have increased by more than 4 million. The rise goes beyond general listenership — individual tracks have seen huge boosts as well.
Ozzy’s hits like ‘Crazy Train’ jumped by 8 million streams, ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ surged by 7.2 million and ‘No More Tears’ saw an increase of 7 million streams.
For Black Sabbath, ‘Paranoid’ climbed by 9.3 million streams, bringing its total to an impressive 1.38 billion. Meanwhile, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘War Pigs’ saw increases of around 6 million and 5 million, respectively.
Osbourne’s death came just weeks after his final performance at the ‘Back to the Beginning’ concert in Birmingham on July 5, which served as his last show both solo and with Black Sabbath. Although the official cause of death hasn’t been disclosed, Ozzy had been publicly battling various health issues, including a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2019.
Tributes continue to pour in from fans and fellow musicians alike, including touching messages from his former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.
