Kelly Osbourne dismissed Dee Snider‘s statement of affection for Ozzy Osbourne in a third Instagram post on Friday.
Kelly Osbourne has posted a third response to Dee Snider, this one aimed at the Twisted Sister singer’s attempt to close the matter.
The Instagram Story carried a photograph of Snider overlaid with her text. The image is flagged by the platform with an AI content label.
She wrote: “A backhanded compliment dressed up as ‘nothing but love,’ followed—predictably—by another use of my father’s name to get yourself some attention. There’s something spectacularly ironic about someone complaining about credit while still borrowing his name for relevance. Apparently the association is offensive when it comes to royalties, but remarkably convenient when the spotlight starts to fade.”
“So, in the immortal spirit of Will Smith: keep my father’s name out of your f**king mouth. You are nothing but Yesterday’s headline begging for tomorrow’s attention. Time to face reality it’s over dude! You’re just bitter old man. The past is over. No amount of attention-seeking will make you relevant to it again.”
The post was signed off with the hashtag #MicProp and a microphone emoji. The line she borrows is Will Smith‘s, delivered from his seat at the 2022 Academy Awards after he struck Chris Rock on stage.
Snider has not responded publicly to this latest post.
The online exchange sparked when an X (formerly Twitter) user brought up details from Ozzy Osbourne‘s posthumous autobiography, “Last Rites“. The fan noted their shock over claims that Lemmy earned a larger fortune from his four co-writing credits on the 1991 blockbuster No More Tears than he did from his entire catalog with Motörhead.
The fan wrote on X: “I just read Ozzy‘s ‘Last Rites‘ and was stunned(if true) that Lemmy made more money off the four songs he wrote for No More Tears then from ALL his Motörhead tunes.”
“Reliable source of Ozzy himself. Insane, if true(Although it was a massive album).”
“Speaking Lemmy sounds fun”
Reacting to the financial trivia, Dee Snider hinted at his personal knowledge of the business practices within the Osbourne camp: “I know too much about the truth behind the scenes. Let’s just say that Sharon [Osbourne] doesn’t like to share.”
The thread then shifted focus to Bob Daisley. Another user pointed out the bassist’s historical claims that he drafted multiple lyrics for the 1991 sessions before being told his words were unnecessary and subsequently fired.
“Bob Daisley says he’d written a load of lyrics, then was told they weren’t needed for NMT. Then he got sacked for the final time,” the user wrote.
Pushing back against the idea that the bassist only contributed a handful of ideas, Dee Snider argued that bass players were historically responsible for the frontman’s entire lyrical output.
“’A load’? How about ALL the lyrics? Ozzy always had bass players write his lyrics. Geezer Butler wrote ALL of Black Sabbath lyrics. Daisley wrote lyrics for the first two solo albums (I’m pretty sure he was paid to write on other records but not credited) & Lemmy wrote lyrics.”
Kelly Osbourne answered with two posts on Thursday, the first defending her father’s legacy without naming anyone, the second addressed to Snider directly and opening with a reference to the year of his last hit.
The first of Kelly‘s posts, set to Ozzy‘s “No More Tears“, did not name anyone.
“My father’s legacy as a musician, songwriter, singer and bandleader speaks for itself. His friends, those who who worked with him, those who love him, and millions of fans around the world that still continue to buy his records know exactly what he meant what he contributed and what he leaves behind. His legacy will live on eternally.”
The second, posted two hours later and soundtracked by a track credited to Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy Kilmister, was addressed to Snider directly. It opened: “@deesnider your last hit….not to age myself was the year I was born over 40 years ago”
She continued: “There’s something spectacularly classless about Dee Snider trying to diminish my father Ozzy Osbourne and his extraordinary abilities and achievements when he is no longer here to challenge his allegations, particularly when Snider cannot claim to know the private reality of my fathers life simply by looking in from the outside or from hearsay from a delusional man with a vendetta against my father. When to the best of my knowledge they were maybe in the same room once if even at all.”
“And if Snider wants to invite comparisons between their careers, that comparison is devastating enough on its own.”
“Snider had a brief period of mainstream success more than 40 years ago. My fathers career spanned nearly six decades—from helping define heavy metal with Black Sabbath to building an extraordinary solo career. His music will continue influencing generations long after all of us are gone.”
“It’s difficult not to wonder whether Sniders attempt to belittle my father is simply a way of getting people talking about him again. Because musically, the music industry moved on from Snider‘s commercial peak decades ago, while my fathers name, catalogue and influence still remains globally relevant.”
“My father doesn’t need Dee Snider‘s approval to establish his place in music history”
“And trying to make my father smaller won’t make Dee Snider bigger. It only reminds everyone of the enormous difference between their legacies and further proves just how irrelevant snider is to the music industry and society as a whole. However I would like to thank you Dee Snider for allowing the world to see how truly desperate he really is !”
Snider then posted: “And again. To be clear, I HAVE NOTHING BUT LOVE FOR OZZY. He was always lovely to me. @BlackSabbath changed my life! As a songwriter I can be a little touchy about credit and royalties.”
That is the statement her latest post responds to.
On the substance, Geezer Butler did write the overwhelming majority of Black Sabbath‘s lyrics, and Daisley holds writing credits across Blizzard Of Ozz and every track on Diary Of A Madman. Ozzy Osbourne carried lyric credits of his own, and his reputation rested largely on vocal melodies, a separate discipline from lyric writing that has not been disputed by anyone in the exchange.
Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22 last year at 76, of a heart attack, with coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease listed as contributing factors. His daughter, now 41, marked the first anniversary last month with an open letter posted to Instagram.
