Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s streaming numbers soar following icon’s death

Ozzy Osbourne‘s and Black Sabbath‘s streaming numbers on Spotify have skyrocketed following the metal icon’s death last week.

• READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025: culture-smashing revolutionary that redefined rock and reality TV

The death of the heavy metal pioneer and iconic Black Sabbath frontman was announced last Tuesday (July 22). His family said in a statement that the 76-year-old music icon was “surrounded by love” at the time of his passing.

It came shortly after he took to the stage for the huge ‘Back To The Beginning’ gig in Birmingham on July 5 – marking his final show both as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath. While a cause of death has not been revealed, Ozzy had notably been dealing with a myriad of health issues for numerous years, including being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2019.

Following the devastating news of his death, The Hollywood Reporter has shared that the musician’s streaming numbers have risen significantly on Spotify. According to the publication, Ozzy Osbourne has gained over 6million monthly listeners as a solo act, while Black Sabbath have gained over 4million monthly listeners.

The streaming rises go beyond their monthly listeners as well – ‘Crazy Train’ has gained 8million streams since Tuesday, with ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ jumping by 7.2million and ‘No More Tears’ up by 7million among others.

As for Black Sabbath, ‘Paranoid’ has jumped by 9.3million streams, up to a massive 1.38billion all-time streams. ‘Iron Main’ has risen by around 6million streams, and ‘War Pigs’ is up by around 5million streams.

In the days following Osbourne’s passing, numerous bands and musicians have covered Ozzy and Black Sabbath classics in honour of the late metal pioneer. Among these are Oasis dedicating ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’ to Osbourne, Ghost dedicating their sold-out Madison Square Garden date to Ozzy, Gojira dedicating ‘Flying Whales’ to the late frontman, and other tributes from Drake, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Coldplay and more.

Pantera have also rescheduled and cancelled several live dates to allow the band and their team time to “grieve” Osbourne’s passing – the band have had a long-standing relationship with the Black Sabbath legend, while guitarist Zakk Wylde had played in Ozzy’s solo band for nearly 30 years.

Countless fans and figures from the music world have shared tributes to the ‘Crazy Train’ singer – including Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, Gojira and his former guitarist Jake E Lee.

Touching messages have also been shared by his Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.

The post Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s streaming numbers soar following icon’s death appeared first on NME.