Ozzy Osbourne: Live, Loud, Sober and Better Than Ever

On 9 November, Ozzy Osbourne forever changed the otherwise dull industrial city of Billings, Montana when he rocked the city with a live performance that can only be referred to as "brilliant." Ozzy and his band played to a packed house of heavy metal rock fans from all over the Big Sky State as no one before has ever done in quite the same way. Currently on tour with metal maniac Rob Zombie to promote his stunning new release, "Black Rain," Ozzy proved that, without any doubt and only two weeks away from his 59th birthday, he still reigns supreme as the Prince of Darkness of heavy metal rock, the music genre that he and the late guitarist Randy Rhoads created after Ozzy's expulsion from Black Sabbath - the band he originated - because of drug and alcohol-related unreliability. Knocked back into reality by his agent and then wife, Sharon Arden Osbourne, Ozzy embarked on a solo career that has gone the distance for 35 years dispite suffering from manic depression and continuous drug and alcohol addiction. Among "metalheads," Ozzy's sound is one of a kind and is easily and immediately recognized throughout the world. The crowd in Billings was no exception.

Rob Zombie opened the show in his usual flashy, gory, raunchy style. A little of Rob went a long way, although his special effects and his band are quite captivating initially. After a few songs, including his classic "Living Dead Girls," all his music tended to sound the same and the accompanying gruesome videos lost their intended shock value. Watching Rob perform, it's difficult to believe that he directed the beautiful and haunting video of Ozzy's song, "Dreamer." Still, Rob was a good choice to open Ozzy's show since he set the tone for a thoroughly outrageous and spectacular evening.