I would agree, they all end up larger than life at some point so to speak or out of generation, that said, he (and Black Sabbath) literally laid the groundwork whether on purpose or accident for a whole different type of rock. I think his melodies were probably his greatest personal contribution. Also, side note, at 51, I was not anywhere near the youngest at the concert. There were a few older of course, but there were a ton of 18-35 year old males and females, astounding really.
One thing I noticed at the concert, the crowd knew every band, every song, literally every word. I go to a lot of concerts, this one was one for the books. As I said before, ironically, my son while there made the comment = This is the greatest wake ever for someone who is living, he really was a true legend.
One band I had never heard of and I missed their Paris Olympics performance was Gojira. I later googled it and I suggest all do, incredible. And influenced by Ozzy and Sabbath.
I think Paul McCartney, Elton John, Robert Plant and Gene Simmons tributes were the most poignant and they are all legends in their own right. Pop culture is interesting, I am sure Ozzy (and Sharon) never set out to create reality tv, yet they accidentally did it.
It will be interesting to see the documentary that was currently being filmed and see how his life of the last few years was and how he ever made it to do the concert. Word out today is he had respiratory failure due to Parkinsons, paramedics worked for 2 hrs to save him to no avail. It would appear he somehow hid the struggle publicly quite well in the last 6 months.
TD