I first heard of Ozzy when I was twelve. I joined, with my mother's permission, the Columbia House Music Club. Remember 12CD's for a penny? Well I ordered twelve cassettes (I didn't have a CD player at the time) and had no idea what I was ordering. I just picked albums that had cool sounding titles or cover art. For whatever reason, I'm not sure why, I selected Ozzy's "No Rest For The Wicked" album. Upon getting all my tapes in the mail I quickly went through them all to see what I had. The first Ozzy song I ever heard was "Miracle Man" and I thought it was great. I listened to that album constantly and I set out to get the rest. (NOTE: I bought all his CD's over again when they were all remastered and re-released with bonus tracks a couple years ago)

I finally acquired all of Ozzy's albums (at that time his latest album was "The Ozzman Cometh"), including the Black Sabbath ones, about three years later. I listened to them all the time. Whatever mood I was in, to me, listening to Ozzy's music would mellow me out. It made me feel better. His music acted as an anti-depressant during my teenage years.

I always thought of Ozzy as my hero. I know Ozzy has said in several songs that he doesn't want to be worshiped or to be anyone's hero, but I always kind of thought of him that way. Maybe hero isn't the proper term, perhaps "role model" is better. Some may think that's strange, but for a man to come from the humble background that he has to becoming what he is today, that's something to strive for. I always thought to myself that if Ozzy can overcome so much adversity to achieve what he has today, then so can I.

I am by no means anywhere near where Ozzy is in terms of success, but I'm chipping away at it. Soon enough I'll have achieved my goals in life as Ozzy did. I've learned a lot from Ozzy, studying his life and music, and I think it has helped me quite a bit in my own life.

Why am I a fan? Because Ozzy changed my life, that's why.

- January 22, 2008