On January 20, 1982, Ozzy Osbourne shocked fans – and the rest of the world – when he bit the head off a bat during a show at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, believing it was a toy thrown by a fan in the audience.
Unfortunately, the bat was real and only flew towards the musician, but Ozzy only realized this when he put the animal in his mouth. Since then, his name has always been associated with this crazy incident, among many others. And Ozzy is fully aware of it.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Daily News , the Prince of Darkness was asked how he would like to be remembered by history. He replied, "Not how I'd like it, but I know I'll be remembered as the guy who bit the head off a bat."
Ozzy even joked about what his tombstone will look like when he dies: “It won’t say ‘Here lies Ozzy Osbourne. He did some good things,’ it will say ‘The lunatic who bites bats.’ And I don’t give a damn about that.”
The musician's madness led to him being taken to Broadlawns Medical Center, where he was vaccinated against rabies and tetanus as a precaution. Decades later, in 2008, Ozzy recalled the incident and recounted the story in detail:
“I think the bat got stunned by the lights, because it was practically frozen. I thought it was a toy. I put it in my mouth and its wings started flapping. I got scared, took it out of my mouth and its head ended up falling off. The taste was all crunchy and warm… It tasted like McDonald's.”