Later solo career and Black Sabbath reunion
While very successful as a heavy metal act through the 1980s, Osbourne sustained commercial success into the 1990s, starting with 1991's
No More Tears, which enjoyed much radio and
MTV exposure. It also initiated a practice of bringing in outside composers to help pen Osbourne's solo material, instead of relying solely upon his recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. The album was mixed by veteran rock producer Michael Wagener, who also mixed the
Live and Loud album which followed in 1993. It went
platinum several times over, and ranked at number 10 on that year's
Billboard rock charts. At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement", which was to be short-lived. Osbourne's entire CD catalogue was remastered and reissued in 1995. Also that year, he released
Ozzmosis and went on stage again, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". A greatest hits package,
The Ozzman Cometh was issued in 1997.
Osbourne's biggest financial success of the 1990s was a venture named
Ozzfest, created and managed by his wife/manager Sharon and assisted loosely by his son
Jack. Ozzfest was a quick hit with metal fans, spurring up-and-coming groups like
Incubus and
Slipknot to broad exposure and commercial success. Some acts even had the pleasure to share the bill with a reformed Black Sabbath during the 1997 Ozzfest tour beginning in West Palm Beach, Florida. Osbourne reunited with the original members of Sabbath in 1997 and has performed periodically with the band ever since.
Since its start, five million people have attended Ozzfest, which has grossed over US$100 million. The festival also helped promote many new hard rock and heavy metal acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including
System of a Down,
Drowning Pool,
Limp Bizkit,
Korn,
Disturbed,
HIM,
Linkin Park,
Atreyu,
Papa Roach,
Velvet Revolver,
Godsmack,
Avenged Sevenfold,
Otep, and
Slipknot. Up until the 2006 tour, Osbourne was always the headlining artist (either solo or with Black Sabbath), it has also featured other famous artists such as
Danzig,
Sepultura,
Marilyn Manson,
Pantera,
Iron Maiden,
Judas Priest,
Slayer,and
Megadeth. Ozzfest also helped Osbourne to become the first hard rock and heavy metal star to hit US$50 million in merchandise sales.
Osbourne's first album of new studio material in seven years, 2001's
Down to Earth, met with only moderate success, as did its live follow up,
Live at Budokan.
On
December 8 2003, Osbourne was rushed into emergency
surgery at Wexham Park Hospital in
Slough, England when he was involved in an accident involving the use of his
all-terrain vehicle on his estate in
Chalfont St Peter in
Buckinghamshire. Osbourne broke his
collar bone, eight
ribs, and a
neck vertebra. An operation was performed to lift the collarbone, which was believed to be resting on a major artery and interrupting blood flow to the arm. Sharon later revealed that Osbourne had stopped breathing following the crash and was resuscitated by Osbourne's then personal bodyguard, Sam Ruston.
While in the hospital, Osbourne achieved his first ever UK number one single, a duet of the Black Sabbath ballad, "Changes" with daughter Kelly. In doing so, he broke the record of the longest period between an artist's first UK chart appearance (with Black Sabbath's "
Paranoid", number four in August 1970) and their first number one hit; a gap of 33 years.
Since the accident, he has fully recovered and headlined the 2004 Ozzfest, where he again reunited with Black Sabbath. He has also turned his hand to writing a Broadway musical. The reputed topic is that of the Russian monk
Grigory Rasputin, who held sway with Russia's last royal
Romanov family. In 2005, he released a box set called
Prince of Darkness. The first and second discs are collections of live performances, B-sides, demos and singles. The third disc contained duets and other odd tracks with other artists, including "
Born to Be Wild" with
Miss Piggy. The fourth disc is entirely new material where Ozzy covers his favourite songs by his biggest influences and favourite bands, including
The Beatles,
John Lennon,
David Bowie and others.
He and wife Sharon starred in yet another
MTV show, this time a competition reality show entitled "
Battle for Ozzfest". A number of yet unsigned bands send one member to compete in a challenge to win a spot on the 2005
Ozzfest and a possible recording contract.
In 2004, Osbourne received an
NME award for "godlike genius".
Shortly after Ozzfest 2005, Osbourne announced that he will no longer headline Ozzfest. Although he announced his retirement from Ozzfest, Ozzy came back for one more year, 2006, albeit only closing for just over half the concerts, leaving the others to be closed by System of a Down (he also played the closing act for the second stage at the Shoreline in Mountain View, CA on July 1st as well as Randall's Island, NY on July 29). After the concert in Bristow, Virginia, Ozzy announced he will return for another year of Ozzfest in 2007. Tickets for the 2007 tour will be offered to fans free of charge.
In 2005, he was inducted into the
UK Music Hall of Fame along with
Black Sabbath where he decided to
moon the crowd because of their poor reception while they were playing.
In March 2006, he said that he hopes to release a new studio album soon with long time on-off guitarist,
Zakk Wylde of
Black Label Society. In October 2006 it was announced that
Tony Iommi,
Ronnie James Dio,
Vinny Appice, and
Geezer Butler would be touring together again though not as
Black Sabbath but rather under the moniker 'Heaven and Hell (the title of Dio's first
Black Sabbath album). The response to the news on Ozzy's website was that Ozzy wished Tony and Ronnie well and that there was only one Sabbath.
The new Ozzy album, titled
Black Rain, was released on
May 22 2007. Osbourne's first new studio album in almost six years, it featured a more serious tone than previous albums. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation...But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go (to pieces)'", Osbourne stated in a Billboard interview.
Ozzy performed one of the new songs which was called "
I Don't Wanna Stop" live on WWE Smackdown. This was also the WWE Judgement day theme song.
On
May 24,
2007, Osbourne was honoured at the second annual
VH1 Rock Honors, along with
Genesis,
Heart, and
ZZ Top. It was announced on
May 18,
2007 that Ozzy would be the first inductee into The
Birmingham Walk of Stars. In a ceremony conducted on
July 6,
2007, a bronze star honouring Ozzy was placed on Broad Street in his home city of Birmingham in England, in his presence. Rock star Ozzy Osbourne has become the first artist to be honoured on Birmingham's own Hollywood-style Walk of Fame. He was presented with the honour by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. "I am really honoured," he said, "All my family is here and I thank everyone for this reception - I'm absolutely knocked out."
The singer, from Aston, told more than 1,000 fans on Broad Street that the brass paving star meant more to him that than any Hollywood accolade.