A Tribute to the Mythological Ozzy...

Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath invented “heavy music.” Every metal and punk band today is a direct result of the creativity that began in that special group of talented weirdos. So without question, Liquid Death is a direct result of Ozzy’s influence that shaped the punk and metal music of my formative years, that had such an outsized impact on my own personality, taste, and sense of humor. 

Fast forward to 2022 when we learned the Osbournes were fans of Liquid Death and wanted to work with us. It was an actual dream come true for me. And in terms of what Ozzy did for Liquid Death, his commercials are some of our highest performing on social to date. 

Ozzy and Sharon were both so great and easy to work with, largely because we shared a sense of kindness with a similar, twisted sense of humor. We felt like kindred spirits. In fact, before Ozzy, we first presented our DNA cans idea to another big celebrity whose management team didn’t see as much humor in it and thought it might be too risky. Ozzy and team instantly loved the concept and thought it was hilarious.

I don’t really believe in destiny or spiritual magic, but what a wonderful coincidence that Ozzy’s DNA preserved on Liquid Death Iced Tea cans was one of his last contributions on Earth. And one of his last quotes was, “Clone me, you bastards!” 

Disruption and disruptors are all the rage in modern business, and for good reason—it’s very lucrative to balance true disruption with fandom. It’s easy to disrupt with something weird that no one really enjoys or cares about; creating something truly unique, that is also widely adored, is much more rare.

Ozzy was a master disruptor. He disrupted rock music and stardom with a superhuman dose of intensity. He made the Mick Jaggers and Robert Plants of yesteryear seem like basic cable. Which made Ozzy larger than life, almost to the level of folklore. Even to this day, there are people debating whether he bit the head off a real bat or fake one.