Acclaimed author Keith Kahn-Harris will be coming to the Henry Watson Music Library to discuss his new book ‘The Beautiful Death of Ozzy Osbourne’.

What is a ‘good death’? How about this: After years of terrible health, you gather friends and admirers for one last, glorious party. A couple of weeks later, you slip away, surrounded by your loving family. Then, the world comes to mourn. That is how Birmingham’s favourite son, Ozzy Osbourne, died.

By his death in June 2025 – at an age few believed he’d reach – Ozzy was much-loved, far beyond the metal world. Once a feared, demonic figure to some (and a joke to others), his Back to the Beginning farewell concert at Villa Park raised millions for charity.

In concise, arresting chapters moving from Death to Life via Art, Politics, Sex, Bodies, Voice, Family, Myth and more, Kahn-Harris explores how Ozzy – of all people! – attracted such generosity of spirit. The answer, he finds, is deeply embedded within the story and culture of metal – and has lessons for us all.

Keith Kahn-Harris has been writing about metal since the mid-1990s and he is one of the founders of Metal Studies as a discipline. Alongside his scholarly work, he has written metal journalism for many years, most recently for The Quietus, alongside books on language, and Jewishness.

Join Keith in person as he talks through the book at our Henry Watson Music Library on Monday 1st June at 6pm.