The internet has dug up a skit where Ozzy Osbourne assumed the role of Gandalf The Grey in a parody of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.
Clips of the 2003 footage have been widely shared on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook and YouTube this week, depicting the late Prince Of Darkness wearing a fake beard, hat and robes and wielding a staff.
The Black Sabbath singer is edited into footage straight from the 2001 film, humorously replacing the original dialogue from actor Sir Ian McKellen with such lines as “I’ll bite your fucking head off” and “Hey! I’m Ozzy! Fuck that ring and save me!”
Watch the hilarious video via the player below.
Some users circulating the clip claim that it’s a reenactment Ozzy commissioned and sent to the Lord Of The Rings filmmakers because he was such a fan of Peter Jackson’s fantasy trilogy, but this is untrue. The skit was in fact one of a series created for the 2003 edition of Ozzy’s travelling heavy metal festival Ozzfest.
According to a 2006 Blabbermouth report, the shorts were planned to be broadcast on concert screens before performances, but the plan was scrapped for unknown reasons.
In 2006, user Clark Graff uploaded many of the unused Ozzy film parodies to YouTube. As well as the Lord Of The Rings spoof, there were other short clips where the singer stood in for Morpheus in the Matrix film series (originally portrayed by Lawrence Fishburne), General Patton in Patton (George C. Scott), and journalist Martin Bashir during his interviews with Michael Jackson for 2003 documentary Living With Michael Jackson.
Other clips had Ozzy ‘audition’ for talent show American Idol and appear in the music video for 50 Cent single Birfday. These skits have also been embedded below.
The Ozzfest 2003 lineup was headlined by Ozzy and his solo band, with other bands on the bill including Korn, Disturbed, Cradle Of Filth and Killswitch Engage. The tour ran across the United States from June 28 to August 28.
Ozzy died at the age of 76 on July 22, 2025, 17 days after he played his retirement concert Back To The Beginning at Villa Park football stadium in his hometown of Birmingham, UK. The singer had previously retired from touring in 2023, due to the physical effects of Parkinson’s disease and multiple spinal surgeries following a fall in 2019.
Two documentaries about Ozzy’s final years will be broadcast over the coming days. The BBC will air the 60-minute film Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home on Thursday (October 2) at 9pm UK time, and on October 7, the two-hour film Ozzy: No Escape From Now will start streaming on Paramount Plus.
