Was Ozzy Osbourne's death as globally significant as the passing of Queen Elizabeth? Ex Megadeth man thinks so

The Queen is introduced to Ozzy Osbourne and Kermit the Frog on stage during "Party at the Palace" in London 03 June 2002 as part of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

(Image credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The death of rock and metal icon Ozzy Osbourne was every bit as impactful as the passing of Queen Elizabeth, according to former Megadeth bass player David Ellefson.

Black Sabbath icon Osbourne died last month at the age of 76, just weeks after he headlined his own retirement show – an all-day extravaganza called Back To The Beginning, held at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham.

His passing devastated the world of rock and metal and also made headline mainstream news across the globe.

So much so that Ellefson compares the reaction to that which followed the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Ellefson tells The Logan Show: "This thing crossed so many genres of life. Not even music – sports people, everybody was weighing in on this.

"I saw something from Texas, San Antonio, where he peed on the Alamo. Now they're proud. 'Ozzy peed here.' They were obviously not promoting that, but they were proud that he's part of the legacy of their state.

"I feel like there hasn't been a significant event like this, of this level probably since the funeral and the passing of Queen Elizabeth. That was probably the last worldwide monumental event of this magnitude.

"And I feel like there's a new royal family – it's the Osbournes. It's kind of like Sharon's now the Queen of England. They needed a new one, and she's the one. And it just goes to show the magnitude of this thing."

The crossover appeal of Ozzy became quickly apparent in the wake of his death, with stars from across a wide range of musical and entertainment genres paying tribute.

DAVID ELLEFSON: Remembering OZZY OSBOURNE & BACK TO THE BEGINNING - YouTube

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.

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