Biting a Bat and 5 Other Wild Moments From Ozzy Osbourne’s Life

Wild and memorable moments punctuated — and sometimes overshadowed — the long career of Ozzy Osbourne, the English heavy metal legend who died this week at 76.

He earned fame as the lead singer of Black Sabbath, a solo artist, and later through “The Osbournes,” the reality show about his family.

But the rocker known as the “Prince of Darkness” was also infamous for excess — much of it fueled by alcohol and drugs.

Here are some of the more outlandish moments:

Jan. 20, 1982: Bat Decapitation

It’s the first thing many people who aren’t metal fans think of when they hear the name Ozzy Osbourne, and maybe the only thing.

During a solo tour that year, the singer and his fans had taken to throwing animal parts at each other. (Ah, rock ‘n’ roll.) One night in January, a fan hurled a bat onto the stage. In a moment captured on video, Osbourne, who later said he thought it was a toy, picked it up and bit in.