Ozzy Osbourne Gets Hollywood Star

April 12 -- Who would have thought that the Godfather of Heavy Metal, at 53, would be bigger than ever?

Only a few years ago, Ozzy Osbourne might have been sloughed off as a has-been rock star relegated to the nostalgia circle for fading tattoo aficionados.

At midday today, the star of MTV's unlikely hit reality show The Osbournes was honored in Los Angeles with a star on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Fittingly enough, it is in front of the Ripley's Believe it Or Not! Museum.

Tattoos, Multiple Piercings … And a Rainbow of Hair

A rainbow of nearly 1,000 shrieking fans, many with multicolored hair, pierced faces and tattoos, turned out to see their hero honored.

Osbourne, famous for such hits as "Iron Man" and "War Pigs," sported a black suit and large gold cross for the event and said he was moved by the honor.

"To say that this is an honor is not enough," he said, according to The Associated Press. "This is just so overwhelming, with all of you turning out so early inthe morning to see my old butt."

MTV’s Biggest Hit Ever

This milestone comes amid reports that MTV has picked up the show for another season. That's hardly a surprise, considering that The Osbournes now stand as the most successful show in the network's history.

Just try to linger at a water cooler without some mention of the frazzledheavy-metal legend,and his family, which America has embraced with a fervor that hasn't been matched since The Simpsons.

Watching Ozzy's wife-manager and their two high-strung children curse out the neighbors has become a national obsession.

Within a month, the series has rivaled past MTV hits like Jackass and Beavis & Butt-Head and keeps growing. The Osbournes drew 4.1 million viewers to its regular Tuesday time slot. Bat-Biting, Cat-Killing, Alamo-Desecrating Ozzy

What's most surprising is that most of MTV's target audience wasn't even born when Ozzy first hit it big with Black Sabbath in the late 1960s. Even his big hits as a solo artist predate most of them.