Watch: Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne dies aged 76

Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary frontman of heavy metal group Black Sabbath, died on Tuesday at the age of 76, his family announced in a statement.

The hell-raising singer, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, passed away just over two weeks after playing a farewell concert in his home city of Birmingham, England, seated on a gothic throne. (See first video below)

"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning," read the family's statement.

"He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time."

Osbourne was instrumental in pioneering heavy metal -- an offshoot of hard rock -- as Black Sabbath enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1970s.

Nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness", he once bit off the head of a bat while on stage.

Born John Michael Osbourne on December 3, 1948 in Birmingham, he left school at 15 and did odd jobs including factory work before teaming up with school friend Geezer Butler in several bands.

He brought the curtain down on a wild career earlier this month when Black Sabbath rattled through their most iconic songs in front of an adoring crowd at Villa Park, home of Premier League football club Aston Villa.

"It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle... Thank you from the bottom of our hearts," Osbourne told the crowd after finishing the set with "Paranoid" -- the band's most famous song.

 Ozzy Osbourne in five songs  

Here are five of Ozzy Osbourne's most memorable songs, three of which are from Black Sabbath's most successful album "Paranoid" (1970).

- 'Paranoid' (1970) - Often listed as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time, "Paranoid" came about largely by accident, being written at the last minute because the album of the same name was too short.

Describing a man's depressed state, the "rapid-fire chugging" of the song was "a two-minute blast of protopunk", Rolling Stone has said.

After leaving Black Sabbath in 1979 and going solo, Osbourne continued to perform the classic at the end of his concerts. 

- 'War Pigs' (1970) -Another icon from "Paranoid", this is a classic anti-war protest song often associated with the Vietnam War of the period.

It was originally entitled "Walpurgis" -- a reference to a satanist festival -- but this was changed on the recommendation of Black Sabbath's record company.

Described as "dense" by Rolling Stone magazine, it compares military commanders to "witches at black masses" and criticises politicians for starting war and "treating people like pawns".

- 'Iron Man' (1970) -Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler said he wrote the lyrics to this piece, also from "Paranoid", when Osbourne described a dark riff by guitarist Tony Iommi as sounding "like a great iron bloke walking about". 

It tells of a man who is unable to communicate and feels rejected, and so wreaks revenge on the world.

Osbourne "gave metal a sense of menace during his first 10-year tour of duty with Black Sabbath, approximating the sound of a nervous breakdown on songs like 'Paranoid' and 'Iron Man'," Rolling Stone wrote in 2018.

- 'Crazy Train' (1980) - After being sacked by Black Sabbath in 1979 because of his abuse of drugs and alcohol, Osbourne reinvented heavy metal during an epic solo career, "picking up the pace of his songs and injecting them with baroque noir," Rolling Stone said.

"Crazy Train", the first single from his debut solo album "Blizzard of Ozz" in 1980, deals with the Cold War pitting the West against the Soviet Union, and fears of mutually assured destruction.

In 2019 Osbourne was reported by US media, as having complained to US President Donald Trump after the Republican used the song unauthorised in a social media video which mocked the 2020 Democratic Party candidates at a debate.

- 'I Don't Want to Change the World' (1991) -  Continuing his successful solo run into the 1990s, "I Don't Want to Change the World" appeared on the multi-platinum winning "No More Tears" album -- his last before retiring for the first time.

Osbourne won a Grammy award for his live performance of the piece in 1993.

It deals with the attitude of religious-minded people towards him, and his own views of them. The lyrics say, "Tell me I'm a sinner / I've got news for you / I spoke to God this morning and he doesn't like you".