Issue No. 25
Music has been the guiding force in my life, from my dad drumming heavy metal to the family and people I’ve grown up around. So when Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22, 2025, my heart felt it in a way that words barely capture.
A Real Icon Through and Through
To me, Ozzy wasn’t just the man who sang “Paranoid” or bit off the head of a bat on stage, he was the emotional soundtrack of my childhood. His voice, raw and vulnerable, carried the weight of joy, pain, rebellion, and truth. He created music that felt like a battle cry, an escape, and a home, especially for someone whose world revolved around metal, rock n’ roll, and grunge.
The final Black Sabbath performance on July 5th, just weeks before his passing, was an epic farewell. Seated on a throne, his voice still shook people’s souls. That final show at Villa Park collected 45,000 fans and raised money for Parkinson’s research, echoing his fierce generosity and undying defiance.
What His Music Taught Me
- Fearlessness in self-expression. He owned his darkness, his oddities, his chaos, and turned it into art.
- Resilience is powerful. His life was punctuated by a lot of setbacks such as addiction, health battles, Parkinson’s, but he kept stepping to the mic.
- Connection lives in our anthems. My dad’s drumbeats, my earbuds blasting Sabbath, my youth finding home in those riffs… music saved me. It healed me. It taught me to trust the rawness in my own voice and art.
A Loss That Hits Deep
My heart goes out to Sharon, his children, and everyone who loved him. The manners in which (he passed surrounded by family) and the silence he leaves in music… it all weighs heavy.
But even in mourning, his death feels more like a final encore, an invitation to keep his fire alive.
Carrying His Flame Forward
Ozzy wasn’t just a musician. He was a mirror, a mentor, a movement. And as I keep building my artistry here, cutting, coloring, blending.. I carry some of that same energy: bold, expressive, unapologetically real.
When I touch someone’s hair, I’m thinking of his legacy, courageous, creative, soulful. And I hope that, maybe on your next appointment, when your hair reflects your truth, you’ll feel a piece of that same anthem living in your strands.
In Memoriam: Not Gone, Just Changing Pitch
Ozzy Osbourne, thank you for the voice that screamed in our darkest hours and the tenderness hidden beneath. Your legacy lives on in the riffs that ripple through generations, and in the artists and souls you inspired, including me.
As the Prince of Darkness once said, “Rock n’ Roll will never die.”
Aly | Los Angeles & Dana Point Hair Artist 