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The heavy metal giant Ozzy Osbourne died July 22. His music is very much alive and now climbing the Billboard charts. NPR's Stephen Thompson has the story.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: The death of a beloved musician often reverberates across the pop charts, as fans turn to their favorite streaming services, retailers and request lines as a way of paying tribute. After Prince died in 2016, five of his albums hit the Billboard top 10 simultaneously. When Toby Keith died early last year, his compilation, "35 Biggest Hits," soared to No. 1. Earlier this year, Brian Wilson's death landed The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" back on the charts for the first time in ages. Ozzy Osbourne died last week. His death inspired a huge surge of streaming, airplay and sales, enough that his classic 1980 song "Crazy Train" has just cracked the Billboard Hot 100.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRAZY TRAIN")
OZZY OSBOURNE: (Singing) Crazy, but that's how it goes. Millions of people living as foes.
THOMPSON: "Crazy Train" has been one of Osbourne's signature songs for 45 years now, but its growth has been incremental enough that it had never cracked the Hot 100 in any single week until now. It's currently No. 46. Another of Osbourne's songs, the 1991 ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home," also cracks the Hot 100 for the first time in more than three decades.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAMA, I'M COMING HOME")
OSBOURNE: (Singing) Times have changed, and times are strange. Here I come, but I ain't the same. Mama, I'm coming home.
THOMPSON: Ozzy Osbourne has an even greater presence on this week's Albums chart. A compilation titled "The Essential Ozzy Osbourne" jumps more than a hundred spots to No. 7 this week, making it the singer's 10th album to land in the top 10. And Osbourne's old band, Black Sabbath, has also received a boost. The group's 1970 classic, "Paranoid" - that's the album with iconic songs like "War Pigs," "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" - reenters this week's chart at No. 37.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRON MAN")
BLACK SABBATH: (Singing) Has he lost his mind? Can he see, or is he blind?
THOMPSON: Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRON MAN")
BLACK SABBATH: (Singing) Can he walk at all? Or if he moves, will he fall? Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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