Ozzy Osbourne Gets Hollywood Star
April 12, 2002 -- 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.
Still, Osbourne's eccentricities apparently captivate the young and old. His bizarre behavior includes biting the head of a bat on stage in 1982, thinking it was a rubber toy. When the bat bit him back, he was rushed to the hospital for a rabies shot.
He's also notorious for biting the head off a white dove to gross out a businessman, shooting his ex-wife's 17 cats, and giving his bulldog Baldrick a facelift to remove his wrinkles.
Drunk and wearing a dress, Osbourne was once arrested in Texas for urinating on the Alamo.
In the 1980s, a group of parents took him to court, claiming his music was laced with subliminal messages aimed at urging children to commit suicide.
Osbourne swore off drugs and alcohol in 1991, determined to correct a chemical imbalance. But he's still plenty colorful (partially a result of sporting at least 15 tattoos).
Fittingly, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had the honor of introducing Osbourne for the Walk of Fame Ceremony.
"This star right here proves that it's quite obvious that Ozzy has managed to succeed while remaining insane and strangely happy," Manson said, "despite his various crimes against God and nature."
ABCNEWS Radio contributed to this report.