Kelly Osbourne is defending her late father’s legacy after Dee Snider suggested Ozzy Osbourne relied heavily on bandmates and bassists to write his most celebrated lyrics.
The dispute began Wednesday when Mr. Snider, longtime frontman of Twisted Sister, responded to fan questions on X about the songwriting credits behind Ozzy Osbourne’s solo catalog and Black Sabbath’s material. Mr. Snider claimed bassists Geezer Butler, Bob Daisley and Lemmy Kilmister wrote the bulk of the lyrics on multiple records, and suggested Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy’s widow and longtime manager, had not been forthcoming about the arrangement.
When a fan raised Mr. Daisley’s own account of writing lyrics for Osbourne’s early solo albums before being fired in the 1980s, Mr. Snider pushed back, insisting Mr. Daisley wrote all the lyrics on those records rather than just some, according to a Cover Media report published by Yahoo News.
Ms. Osbourne responded Friday with two Instagram Stories. Without naming Mr. Snider outright, she wrote that her father’s legacy as a musician and songwriter needed no defense, then took direct aim at the singer, calling his remarks “spectacularly classless.”
She argued that Twisted Sister’s commercial peak, 1984’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” which reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, paled next to what she called Ozzy Osbourne’s six-decade run with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. Ozzy Osbourne died in July 2025 at age 76.
Mr. Snider replied on X that he holds “nothing but love” for Ozzy, saying his pointed remarks stemmed from his own long-running sensitivities over songwriting credit and royalties.
The exchange comes amid a rocky stretch for Mr. Snider, 71, who resigned as Twisted Sister’s lead singer in February, citing degenerative arthritis and heart problems tied to decades of touring, according to Rolling Stone. The band later tapped former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach to front a run of 2026 anniversary shows, a move Mr. Snider has publicly endorsed as his replacement, Blabbermouth reported.
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