Ozzy’s bat-biting anniversary celebrated with plush bat toy

Ozzy Osbourne achieved a new level of notoriety during a performance at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Iowa, in 1982.

A fan famously threw what Ozzy thought was a rubber bat on to the stage that night, and being the Prince Of Darkness, he bit into it only to discover it was the real deal.

Now, 37 years on, Ozzy has decided to mark the event with a plush toy bat… complete with detachable head.

Ozzy says: “Today marks the 37th anniversary since I bit a head off a fucking bat! Celebrate with this commemorative plush with detachable head.”

A new round of pre-orders for the 12-inch tall bat are now being taken after the first batch sold out, with the toy flying out from Ozzy HQ in March.

In his memoir I Am Ozzy, the frontman recalled the moment in graphic detail.

Ozzy said: “Immediately, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start, my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid, with the worst aftertaste you could ever imagine. I could feel it staining my teeth and running down my chin. 

“Then the head in my mouth twitched. ‘Oh, fuck me,’ I thought. ‘I didn’t just go and eat a bat, did I?‘”

Ozzy was treated for rabies as a precaution following the incident.

Ozzy will head out on the next leg of his No More Tours 2 from May, while he’s also the cover star of the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which is out now.