Ozzy Osbourne- Diary of a Madman 45th Anniversary
It is the forty-fifth anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne’s second solo album, Diary of a Madman. With four decades of arenas and stadiums filled from the Meadowlands to Moscow, and with his MTV reality home invasion turning himself and his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne into a dystopian 21st century Ozzie and Harriet, the Godfather of Heavy Metal Ozzy Osbourne only recently was granted induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by virtue of having been Black Sabbath’s original lead singer/ lyricist for their seminal genre-defining first ten years. But Ozzy’s first two solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, sold more than all of those Black Sabbath albums combined. Years eligible solo for Ozzy Osbourne: 19 . Number of times even nominated until now: 0.
Being on the outside looking in was always a familiar place for Ozzy Osbourne. Rock and roll was founded, and continued to be replenished, by those who felt unheard, unseen, uncomfortable swimming in the mainstream of society. Yet at some point the rock music business progressed to a point where some musicians felt outside of THAT , rebelling against those conventions as well. Ozzy Osbourne joined a list with Ray Davies of The Kinks, the Grateful Dead, all the Punk bands, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, Pearl Jam vs Ticketmaster, Tom Scholz of Boston vs CBS Records, and Peter Gabriel vs MTV. 
The irony is that if you reject the status quo completely, and are so successful in creating your own alternative business model such as the Grateful Dead or Jimmy Buffett did, at some point you risk becoming indistinguishable from the very thing you ran from in the first place.
If success is the best revenge, then Ozzy Osbourne won hands down over all doubters and detractors. But my buddy has done his final encore. Honestly, only he knew if that Hall of Fame recognition had any real meaning for him after being denied for so long. Speaking as a life-long fan, it was meaningful to me. Congratulations Ozzy Osbourne, it was quite a colorful journey into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame! See you on the other side. – Redbeard 
