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BBC Radio 1 presenter Jack Saunders interrupted the broadcast to pay tribute to Ozzy following his death.
He said on air: “We bring you the sad news that Ozzy Osbourne has sadly passed away at the age of 76,” he said. Jack went on to add: “The Prince of Darkness himself, the frontman of one of the most important heavy metal bands, Black Sabbath, whose second album, Paranoid, remains without doubt the most influential metal album of all time.
“If you’ve had a chance to listen to the album, you’ll know when I say this. But if not, the riffs were cutthroat and raw and I mean, there really wasn’t a consideration to be something or play up to a certain way. There was only concern to be heard.
“And this track that I want to play you from Black Sabbath tonight was the opener to the album. It was emblematic, set the tone and completely ambitious in its time, which was 1970, by the way. Fresh off the back of the chokehold of The Beatles, this felt like something fresh and different and exciting.
“And Ozzy’s voice felt timelessly evil, filled with temptation and snare. There was no way once you heard Ozzy do his thing that you were going anywhere but listening to Black Sabbath. Riding the rhythm and blues that had so far shaped the sound of rock and roll, Ozzy Osbourne, on this track and beyond, shaped himself as the Prince of Darkness. Rest in peace, to a legend.”