Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away on Tuesday, certainly had a colourful life, with the rock and roll legend amassing a legion of fans due to his antics and incredible musical ability.
However, fronting a heavy metal band, it's no surprise that the late singer often came under fire. While he courted accusations of Satanism, one of his most notable on-stage moments saw the singer bite the head off a live bat. Over the years, there have been several sides to the story, so what really happened?
HELLO! has done some digging to find the true story…
Bat 'biting' incident
The moment dates back to January 1982 when Ozzy was touring for the release of his second solo album, Diary of a Madman. At the time, Ozzy was notorious for throwing raw meat into the crowd, something which his fans returned.
During the now infamous gig, teenager Mark Neal threw a bat onto the stage. Ozzy thought nothing of it, and playing up to his wild image, bit the creature's head off. According to his 2010 autobiography, the singer initially thought the bat was just a rubber toy.
© RedfernsHe wrote: "Immediately, though, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid. Then the head in my mouth twitched."
He continued: "Somebody threw a bat. I just thought it was a rubber bat. And I picked it up and put it in my mouth. I bit into it. Oh no, it's real. It was a real live bat."
© Getty ImagesRecollections may vary
The version contradicted a 2006 interview he gave during which he indicated that the animal was dead by the time he bit into it. He told the BBC at the time: "I bite into it, and I look to my left and Sharon [Osbourne] was [gesturing no]. And I'm like, 'what you talking about?' She [says], 'it's a dead real bat'. And I'm... I know now!"
In 2002, Ozzy had also claimed that the bat was alive at the time, with the animal biting him, leading to him getting injections in case he contracted rabies.
© Getty ImagesAccording to Mark, who threw the bat onstage, the creature had died before he brought it to the gig. Speaking to the Des Moines Register back in 2005, he revealed that his younger brother had brought the bat home, but it had died some days before the gig.
Dove biting incident
The bat isn't the only animal that Ozzy is said to have chowed down on, as the singer reportedly bit the heads off of two live doves during a meeting with music executives for CBS Records.
Sharon convinced the rock and roll legend to bring three doves with him to the meeting to release as a show of "peace"; however, after getting intoxicated, Ozzy instead bit two of the heads off before being escorted out of the building by security.
© RedfernsIn his biography of the singer, Diary of a Madman, music journalist Mick Wall recounted Ozzy telling him that that a PR was annoying him and he "pulled out one of these doves and bit its [expletive] head off just to shut her up".
"Then I did it again with the next dove, spitting the head out on the table. That's when they threw me out. They said I'd never work for CBS again."
© Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TheHowever, speaking to Gary Bushell from Sound magazine, he said: "The scam is the bird was dead. We were planning to release it there, but it died beforehand. So rather than waste it, I bit its head off.
"You should have seen their faces. They all went white. They were speechless."
