what did roger waters say about ozzy osbourne
Roger Waters recently made very harsh and dismissive remarks about Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath in a 2025 interview, criticizing both Ozzy’s public persona and his music. His comments sparked a wave of backlash from fans and from Ozzy’s son, Jack Osbourne, who publicly defended his father.
What Roger Waters Actually Said
In a late‑2025 interview, Waters referred to Ozzy Osbourne’s long career on television and in popular culture as “idiocy and nonsense,” framing Ozzy as part of what he sees as a shallow media landscape. He spoke about Ozzy having been “all over the TV for hundreds of years with his idiocy and nonsense,” shortly after Ozzy’s death, which many felt came off as cruel and disrespectful in its timing.
Waters went further and said he had “no idea” about Ozzy’s music and “couldn’t give a [expletive],” making it clear he never cared about Black Sabbath or their work. He mocked the theatrical side of metal with a caricatured “wahhh” vocal imitation and referenced biting the heads off animals, even misremembering the infamous bat incident as involving a chicken.
His View on Ozzy’s Music and Legacy
Waters described Ozzy’s music and Black Sabbath’s catalog as something he has “no interest” in and “never did,” explicitly stating that he doesn’t care about Black Sabbath. Rather than offering a nuanced critique, he essentially dismissed the entire artistic legacy, treating it as irrelevant to him both musically and culturally.
He also used Ozzy as an example of how, in his opinion, pop culture and celebrity focus distract from serious political and social issues, suggesting that this kind of rock spectacle “fills the culture with idiocy and nonsense.” For many fans, this felt like Waters was using Ozzy’s death as a rhetorical device to make a broader point, instead of showing respect to a fellow musician.
How Jack Osbourne and Others Responded
Jack Osbourne reacted strongly, calling Waters’ remarks needlessly cruel and “pathetic,” and saying his father always thought Waters was a bit of a clown. Jack’s response framed Waters as out of touch and attention‑seeking, questioning why he would attack someone who had just died and who helped push rock music forward.
Commentary pieces and fan discussions have highlighted the contrast between Ozzy, who had often spoken respectfully of Pink Floyd and even named “Money” as one of his favorite rock songs, and Waters, who has repeatedly dismissed Black Sabbath going back decades. In fan forums and rock media, the consensus trend through late 2025 was that Waters’ comments were technically his right as an opinion, but unusually harsh and poorly timed given Ozzy’s recent passing.
TL;DR: Roger Waters said Ozzy Osbourne and his TV persona represented “idiocy and nonsense,” and that he never cared about Ozzy’s music or Black Sabbath at all, which ignited backlash from Jack Osbourne and many rock fans who saw the remarks as disrespectful so soon after Ozzy’s death.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.