During a January 20th, 1982 Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a fan famously threw a bat onstage. Ozzy, believing the bat was a rubber toy, bit its head off. The bat bit back, forcing Ozzy to be treated for rabies.

In honor of Ozzy turning 70 today (December 3rd), RealClearLife recalls 13 of the craziest things Osbourne has said over the years.

In regards to the bat biting incident: "Immediately, though, 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.”

On Black Sabbath’s (perceived) interest in the dark arts, Ozzy reveals: “We couldn’t conjure up a fart. We’d get invitations to play witches’ conventions and black masses in Highgate Cemetery. I honestly thought it was a joke. We were the last hippie band - we were into peace. I never did this black-magic stuff. The reason I did 'Mr. Crowley' on my first solo album [Blizzard of Ozz, 1980] was that everybody was talking about Aleister Crowley. Jimmy Page bought his house, and one of my roadies worked with one of his roadies. I thought, ‘Mr. Crowley, who are you? Where are you from?’ But people would hear the song and go, “He’s definitely into witchcraft.”

Read more at RealClearLife.

OzzFest is happening on New Year's Eve, December 31st, at the Forum in Los Angeles, California. In this video, fans explain what OzzFest is:

The upcoming OzzFest New Year's Eve celebration has expanded its headlining bill of some of the greatest names in rock to include a second (outdoor) stage. Concert-goers will now have 10 hours of entertainment before they ring in the New Year.

Set for Monday, December 31st at The Forum in Los Angeles, Ozzfest will kick off with live music at 2:30 PM with sets from Zakk Sabbath, Devildriver and Wednesday 13 on the outdoor stage. Early concert-goers will also get to sip cocktails while also enjoying offerings from a variety of food trucks which will be set-up throughout the outdoor performance area, all available for purchase. Food choices include Mess Hall Canteen, Burger Monster, The Viking Truck, The Coconut Truck, Kala Truck, Broken Rice and Drizzle Truck, plus a booth from the legendary Trejo's Tacos.

At 6:00 PM, everything shifts indoors at The Forum where OzzFest alumni Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and Jonathan Davis (of Korn) and Body Count featuring Ice-T (in their OzzFest debut) will take the stage. The night will conclude with a performance from festival namesake Ozzy Osbourne, who will count down to the new year.
 
Tickets for the Live Nation-produced OzzFest 2018 are on sale now here. Ticket prices range from $49.50 for general admission to $179.50 for a reserved seat.

The OzzFest lineup is as follows:

Ozzy Osbourne
Rob Zombie
Marilyn Manson
Jonathan Davis (of Korn)
Body Count Featuring Ice-T
Zakk Sabbath
Devildriver
Wednesday 13

More details here.

Ozzy has announced additional North American tour dates for 2019. For these shows, Osbourne will be backed by his longtime collaborators Zakk Wylde (guitar), Blasko (bass), Tommy Clufetos (drums) and Adam Wakeman (keyboards), with Megadeth supporting for the entire North American run.

Tickets for the 2019 North American No More Tours 2 shows are on sale at LiveNation.com and through the Live Nation app.

The No More Tours 2 tour launched in May 2018 in Santiago, Chile for solo shows in three countries followed by a six-week European leg of headlining solo dates and festival performances. A North American tour followed kicking off August 30th in Allentown, PA, with the final four shows of that leg of the tour postponed for Ozzy to recover from an infection. Those four shows - Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas - will now conclude the 2019 dates. Tickets for these rescheduled dates are on sale now at LiveNation.com. The trek will also include a newly announced June 11th stop at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Prior to his 2019 dates, Ozzy will headline a special New Year’s Eve Ozzfest spectacular at the Forum in Los Angeles.
 
On his upcoming farewell world tour, produced by Live Nation, Osbourne will celebrate more than five decades as a performer (both as a solo artist and as lead singer of Black Sabbath which formed in 1968). This tour, expected to take Ozzy around the world with dates into 2020, will mark the end of global touring for the legendary artist, though he will continue to perform select live shows in the future. Throughout his career, Ozzy has sold more than 100 million records.
 
This will mark the first time Megadeth will join Osbourne for a full tour, although they have performed together previously at Ozzfest and other festivals around the world. Megadeth burst onto the scene thirty years ago, virtually inventing a genre with their debut album Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! sold more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning numerous accolades including a 2017 Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance” for the title track of their fifteenth studio album Dystopia, 11 additional Grammy nominations, a Silver Clio for their Dystopia campaign and scored five consecutive platinum albums - including 1992’s two-million-selling Countdown To Extinction.

North American dates:

May
29 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena
31 - Sunrise, FL - BB&T Center

June
2 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
4 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
6 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
8 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
11 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
13 - Pittsburgh, PA - KeyBank Pavilion
15 - Bangor, ME - Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion
18 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
20 - Hamilton, ON - FirstOntario Centre
22 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
26 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
28 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
30 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena

July
4 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
6 - St. Paul MN - Xcel Energy Center
9 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
11 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
13 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
16 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
18 - Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center
20 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
23 - San Diego, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
25 - Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion
27 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl

(Photo - Mark Weiss)