The Osbourne family have signed off on licensing the rights to their late patriarch, heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, for an upcoming A.I. incarnation. Per License Global, his widow Sharon and son Jack have partnered with the company HYPERREAL, known for their work in staging avatar concerts and events and more, to pull off this venture. Jack stated of the technology being employed for it:
“It’s kind of scary how it’s really very accurate. He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers. Technology has come such a long way to where it’s almost drag and drop. You could shoot a template for a commercial … literally prompt what you want Digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It’s that simple now.”
Sharon added:
“You can ask Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice – and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said. We’re going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back.”
There has been a considerable amount of licensing done with Ozzy‘s likeness, including makeup, watches and more, since his July 22nd, 2025 passing. Jack has stated however that he and the family seek to preserve a degree of authenticity with any future licensing of the late Prince Of Darkness. Sharon herself also communicated her desire to keep her late husband’s brand alive, stating: “Elvis died 50 years ago, and everybody knows Elvis. I just want that for Ozzy.”
While this A.I. avatar incarnation of Ozzy will likely prove divisive, Sharon has plans to bring back honor the legacy of Ozzy in 2027 with the return of the ‘Ozzfest‘, a move that thus far has largely proven to be a welcome return to a festival that previously served as the launching pad for numerous current metal stars.
Hard rock icons KISS have opted to take a similar route as the Osbourne family in preserving their own legacy, though their likenesses will live on via digital avatar-based ‘live’ concerts.
