The Wild Rumor That Almost Canceled Ozzy Osbourne’s Boston Show

The rock and roll world is still reeling from the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away on July 22 at 76 years old.

Ozzy’s History With Massachusetts Fans

While the Prince of Darkness hailed from Old England, he still had a huge fan base here in New England, especially in Massachusetts. His band Black Sabbath toured here many times in its 1970s heyday, playing venues such as the old Boston Garden and Boston’s Orpheum Theater.

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When Ozzy was fired from the band in 1979, he embarked on a solo career that brought him back to Massachusetts on a number of occasions, and even more so when he launched Ozzfest as a touring festival in 1997.

However, one of Ozzy’s early Boston solo gigs almost didn’t happen – due to rumors he planned to kill puppies on stage as part of the show.

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The 1982 Tour and Tragedy of Randy Rhoads

WCVB recently posted its report from 1982, when Osbourne was set to play the Boston Garden on April 2 of that year, just two weeks after his guitarist Randy Rhoads had died in a plane crash. Ozzy had wanted to just give up playing music at that point, but his wife, Sharon, convinced him to finish the tour for the fans. The still-reeling Blizzard of Ozz band was trying to figure out how to play with a replacement for one of the greatest guitar players of all time, when a crazy rumor was started that almost forced the cancellation of the show.

The Puppy-Killing Rumor That Rocked Boston

The rumor was that as part of his performance, Ozzy would kill puppies on stage. Forget the fact that such an act of animal cruelty would likely have led to his arrest, or at the very least, widespread news coverage of such an event. This was 1982, so there was no internet to dispel – or fuel – the rumor.

It was also believable to some in the wake of Ozzy’s previous animal incidents. First, in 1981, he bit the heads off two doves in front of record executives at a sales convention (and then later bit the head off a third dove). Then in January 1982, he bit the head off a bat that a fan had thrown on stage, thinking it was rubber and quickly learning it was not.

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These incidents helped fuel Osbourne’s “madman” reputation, so the idea that some puppies could be next on the menu probably made complete sense to his repulsed detractors.

As a result, the sold-out Garden show on April 2, 1982 almost didn’t happen – not only because of the puppy rumors, but also because of a clash between the licensing bodies for such events in Boston, according to WCVB’s report.

How the Concert Finally Went Down

Despite all the drama, the show went off without a hitch, and Ozzy played 15 songs for the Boston fans, including some Black Sabbath favorites.

A few days later, on April 6, 1982, Osbourne played the Providence Civic Center, and returned to Massachusetts on May 19 for a show at the Cape Cod Coliseum in South Yarmouth.

No puppies, doves, bats or any other animals were harmed at any of the tour stops.

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