Iconic frontman for pioneering metal band Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, died Tuesday at age 76, surrounded by family in England. He was born Dec. 3, 1948.
The rocker, with his black-lined eyes and a charismatic sense of danger, was notorious for his no-care, law-breaking, bat-biting behavior in the 1980s — including not one, but two canceled concerts in East Baton Rouge Parish.
According to the newspaper archives, Osbourne’s March 3, 1982, concert at the Riverside Centroplex facility (now Raising Cane’s River Center) was canceled after public pressure from anti-rock ‘n’ roll enthusiasts.
The reasoning stemmed from a Jan. 20, 1982, incident in Des Moines, Iowa, when a teenage fan tossed a live bat onto the stage during his “Diary of a Madman Tour.” Osbourne, who later explained he believed it was a fake bat, bent the bat’s wings and bit its head off…