Ozzy Osbourne’s music surges again three months after his death as Patient Number 9, Ordinary Man, and Blizzard of Ozz all return to U.K. charts. Portrait of British musician Ozzy Osbourne before a performance at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Chicago, Illinois, July 13, 1986. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
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Three months after his death, fans of Ozzy Osbourne are still mourning the heavy metal pioneer, who remains front and center in people’s minds — and apparently their ears — as consumption of his catalog remains impressive. For weeks now, the rocker has been soaring on charts and then falling away, only to reappear for one reason or another, usually with multiple albums or songs at once.
Even long after the initial spikes in sales and streams that followed the tragic news of his passing in July, Osbourne’s music is back in a big way this week, due, perhaps, to several recently-unveiled projects that tell his life story. Recently, Paramount+ unveiled its new documentary Ozzy: No Escape From Now, which came as fans were looking to consume anything related to the star.
A posthumous memoir titled I Am Ozzy, his second, which was reportedly finished only days before his death, dropped around the same time. Both arrived this month, and they may be responsible for his current, impressive performance on the charts in the United Kingdom, as several albums return to different rankings at the same time.
Patient Number 9 Leads Ozzy Osbourne’s Chart Comeback
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 24: Ozzy Osbourne speaks onstage at iHeartRadio ICONS with Ozzy Osbourne: In Celebration of Ordinary Man at iHeartRadio Theater on February 24, 2020 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia )
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Three of Osbourne’s solo collections not only find space on the music charts in the U.K. – his home turf, where he will likely always be regarded as a rock superhero – but manage to reappear. The grouping includes Patient Number 9, Ordinary Man, and Blizzard of Ozz, which span his decades-long solo career that began after years as the frontman of Black Sabbath.
Patient Number 9 Returns to Multiple Charts
Among those three titles, Patient Number 9 is the only set to find its way back to multiple tallies. The 2022 project — which would be the last of his lifetime — breaks back onto the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart at No. 27 while also finding its way to the Official Album Downloads roster at No. 82.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man Becomes a Bestseller Again
Ordinary Man also appears on the same two tallies, but it only breaks back onto the Official Album Downloads chart — and just barely. Ordinary Man can be found at No. 97 on that roster. At the same time, it soars from No. 33 to No. 16 on the Official Rock & Metal Albums list.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Debut Album Returns
Blizzard of Ozz, unlike Patient Number 9 and Ordinary Man, can only be found on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart, as it didn’t sell well enough on platforms like iTunes in the most recent tracking frame to land on the Official Album Downloads roster. Blizzard of Ozz, which Osbourne dropped in 1980 as his first solo collection after leaving Black Sabbath, settles in at No. 30 on the list of the bestselling rock and metal releases in the nation after not finding space on the tally just days ago.
Ozzy Osbourne’s Albums Have a Lengthy and Impressive Chart Legacy
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 11: Ozzy Osbourne visits the SiriusXM Studios on December 11, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
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Coincidentally, both Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9 peaked in the runner-up spot on the Official Album Downloads chart. Throughout his career — and even in the weeks following his passing, when purchases of his projects exploded — Osbourne never managed to reach the No. 1 position. His compilation The Essential also cracked the top 10, stalling at No. 8.
How Many of Ozzy Osbourne’s Albums Hit No. 1?
Looking at Osbourne’s three present titles, two of them have previously ruled the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart, as both Patient Number 9 and Ordinary Man took turns running the show. Blizzard of Ozz climbed as high as No. 5.
Only one other set, Scream, reached the summit on the Official Rock & Metal Albums ranking, while multiple other projects like Ozzmosis, The Ozzman Cometh: The Best Of, Down to Earth, Black Rain, Memoirs of a Madman, and No More Tears all reached the top 10 as well.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/10/24/ozzy-osbournes-fans-have-sparked-another-surprising-comeback/
