This is an opinion cartoon tribute to the Wizard of Ozzy.

“The Black Sabbath guys were a hippie love and peace band that found their soul by wrapping anti-war lyrics into devastating, sludgy guitar riffs and lyrics that warned of approaching doom. Ozzy was the perfect messenger.” – Me. I wrote that somewhere down there in the words and stuff …

I cried when Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a plane crash in 1990.

I knew Stevie Ray. Felt like I knew him. Thought I discovered him.

There was a little basement bar called Blossoms Downstairs on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas. Blossoms was a respectable restaurant during the week. On the weekend, Blossoms Downstairs was the place to be.

Most Blossoms Downstairs shows were free. When Stevie Ray was in town the cover charge was $2.50. In the basement with his band, Double Trouble. An arsenal of guitars.

I went to every show to witness the most intense blues guitar slinger on earth. Electric. Humble. Greasy tank top and jeans. He looked like he had been changing the oil on pickup trucks all day. I went backstage, a closet, after his first set. Asked him questions about guitar stuff. He answered. We were tight.

I played all of Stevie Ray’s albums over and over again after his death. Cried like a baby with every song.

When Kurt Cobain died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, I went to his music to search for clues in his lyrics. Why?

Ozzy Osbourne is another story. Love the guy. But I shed no tears. No need to look back over his legacy of heavy gloom and doom music.

Related: Ozzy Osbourne’s Alabama adventures and connections

I have been honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath for years. Every day. With every cartoon I draw.

Thank you, Spotify.

Black Sabbath has always been an inspirational fountain of black ink that flows through my pen at the drawing board.

Most of my favorite Sabbath/Ozzy songs are from the first three near-perfect classic rock albums: Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master of Reality. Among my personal Sabbath favorites are these songs that revolutionized hard rock and heavy metal: War Pigs, Paranoid, Electric Funeral, Iron Man, Lord of This World, Children of the Grave and Into the Void.

Snowblind, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Symptom of the Universe and Hole in the Sky came later … the list goes on and on.

Black Sabbath’s final album, 13, released in 2013, is among my personal favorites. Its heavy riffs and dark lyrics are a relentless and welcome throwback to their classic albums.

Of Ozzy’s solo work, Perry Mason from his Ozzmosis album is at the top of my list.

The Black Sabbath guys were a hippie love and peace band that found their soul by wrapping anti-war lyrics into devastating, sludgy guitar riffs and lyrics that warned of approaching doom. Ozzy was the perfect messenger.

They call Ozzy the Prince of Darkness. But he was far from evil, in my book. He was a family man and a funny dude, sometimes without meaning to be … but still.

Ozzy could have been called the Prince of Snarkness.

He was a clever master of his craft. His voice was strong to the end. Rest in peace and power, Ozzy.

Follow the light, man.

Rock on.

More true stories by JD Crowe

The mysterious ‘Bubble Guy’ of Fairhope and the art of bubble Zen – al.com

How I met Dr. Seuss

Robert Plant head-butted me. Thanks, David Coverdale

The hog killin’

I was ZZ Top’s drummer for a night and got kidnapped by groupies

Check out more cartoons and stuff by JD Crowe

JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group andAL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter@Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix. Give him a holler @[email protected].