Kelly Osbourne defends dad Ozzy after Black Sabbath 'insulted' by 'irrelevant' musician
Ozzy Osbourne's youngest daughter Kelly has gone to bat for her late dad after a fellow rocker accused him of stealing songwriting credits.
The 41-year-old media personality shared a scathing rant on social media in response to claims made by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider in a series of online posts.
Branding the musician 'irrelevant', 'spectacularly classless' and a 'bitter old man', Kelly coldly referenced Will Smith's now-iconic quote as she told Snider: "Keep my father’s name out of your f***ing mouth."
Kelly unleashed her fury on the Twisted Sister star, 71, in a series of Instagram posts after he made a number of damning allegations on X about her dad Ozzy, who died in July last year.
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On Wednesday (12 August), Snider was chatting with music fans on X about the industry and a host of huge bands, such as Nirvana, The Beach Boys, Quiet Riot, Metallica and the Sex Pistols.
He then began discussing legendary Motorhead vocalist and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister, who is better known as Lemmy, and some of the 'amazing' stories he told him over the years.
One fan responded to these posts explaining that they had recently read Ozzy's autobiographical memoir, Last Rites, which stated that 'Lemmy made more money off the four songs he wrote for No More Tears than from ALL his Motorhead tunes'.
No More Tears is the title of the Black Sabbath legend's sixth studio album, which Lemmy worked with him on. He co-wrote the lyrics for four hit tracks on Ozzy's project.
Another social media user then chimed in the conversation and referenced claims made by bassist Bob Daisley, who was a longtime collaborator of Ozzy's. He claimed to have wrote a lot of solo material for the Prince of Darkness.
Snider takes a swipe at Sharon Osbourne
In the post, the fan pointed out that 76-year-old Daisley has previously said that he 'wrote a load of lyrics' for Ozzy, to which Snider responded: "'A load?' How about ALL the lyrics? Ozzy always had bass players write his lyrics. "@geezerbutler wrote ALL of @BlackSabbath lyrics. Daisley wrote lyrics for the first two solo albums (I'm pretty sure he was paid to write on other records but not credited) & Lemmy wrote lyrics."
In a subsequent post, Snider also alleged: "I know too much about the truth behind the scenes. Let's just say that Sharon doesn't like to share."
After getting wind of the conversation unfolding online about her late father Ozzy, Kelly issued a brutal response to Snider in a lengthy post defending her dad's 'legacy'.
"His friends, those who worked with him, those who love him, and millions of fans around the world that still continue to buy his records know exactly what he meant what he contributed and what he leaves behind," she wrote.
"His legacy will live on eternally. @deesnider your last hit... not to age myself, was the year I was born over 40 years ago," Kelly fumed.
"There’s something spectacularly classless about Dee Snider trying to diminish my father Ozzy Osbourne and his extraordinary abilities and achievements when he is no longer here to challenge his allegations."
Kelly - who recently split from former SlipKnot star Sid Wilson - said Snider 'cannot claim to know the private reality of her fathers life simply by looking in from the outside or from hearsay from a delusional man with a vendetta'.
She then made the 'devastating' comparison between Ozzy's career and Snider's, saying: "Snider had a brief period of mainstream success more than 40 years ago. My fathers career spanned nearly six decades-from helping define heavy metal with Black Sabbath to building an extraordinary solo career. His music will continue influencing generations long after all of us are gone."
Kelly then suggested Snider had taken a swipe at Ozzy to 'get people talking about him again', as the 'music industry moved on from Snider's commercial peak decades ago'.
"My father doesn't need Dee Snider's approval to establish his place in music history," she went on. "And trying to make my father smaller won't make Dee Snider bigger.
"It only reminds everyone of the enormous difference between their legacies and further proves just how irrelevant snider is to the music industry and society as a whole.
"However I would like to thank you Dee Snider for allowing the world to see how truly desperate he really is!"
Snider then shared another post on X clarifying that he had 'nothing but love' for the Black Sabbath frontman, who he said 'was always lovely' when they ran into each other.
Kelly brands Snider a 'bitter old man'
"As a songwriter I can be a little touchy about credit and royalties," Snider added.
But this didn't wash with Kelly, as she shared another statement which read: "A backhanded compliment dressed up as "nothing but love," followed-predictably-by another use of my father's name to get yourself some attention.
"There's something spectacularly ironic about someone complaining about credit while still borrowing his name for relevance.
"Apparently the association is offensive when it comes to royalties, but remarkably convenient when the spotlight starts to fade. "So, in the immortal spirit of Will Smith: keep my father's name out out of your f**king mouth.
"You are nothing but yesterday's headline begging for tomorrow's attention. Time to face reality it's over dude! You're just bitter old man. The past is over. No amount of attention-seeking will make you relevant to it again."
Topics: Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Celebrity, Music
Olivia Burke