A public dispute between Dee Snider and Kelly Osbourne recently broke out after the Twisted Sister frontman questioned how much Ozzy Osbourne contributed to the lyrics of some of his most famous records. Kelly strongly defended her father’s legacy, while Snider later said his comments were mainly about songwriting credits and royalties.
Now, Snider has given a new update and says he has not heard directly from Kelly Osbourne.
The exchange came after a fan approached Snider on X and asked whether reports about Kelly contacting him were accurate.
“I read a news article that claims Kelly told you to keep Ozzy’s name out of your mouth. Was that part embellished to make the article more interesting?”
Snider answered with a short and direct response:
“I’ve heard nothing from Kelly.”
Snider originally argued that some of the lyrics associated with Ozzy were actually written by musicians around him. He specifically mentioned Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and former Ozzy bassist Bob Daisley, while also pointing to Sharon Osbourne’s influence over how the history of Ozzy’s career has been presented.
“I know too much about the truth behind the scenes,” Snider said. “Let’s just say that Sharon [Osbourne] doesn’t like to share.”
Snider then made a stronger claim about Daisley’s role in Ozzy’s early solo career.
“(Bob Daisley wrote) a load of lyrics? How about ALL the lyrics?” Snider said. “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) and Lemmy wrote lyrics.”
Kelly Osbourne responded with a long statement on her Instagram story, defending her father’s work and attacking Snider’s credibility.
“My father’s legacy as a musician, songwriter, singer and bandleader speaks for itself,” Kelly wrote. “His friends, those who worked with him, those who loved 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.”
She then directly compared Snider’s career with Ozzy’s.
“Dee Snider your last hit … not to age myself was the year I was born over 40 years ago,” she wrote.
Kelly also criticized the timing of Snider’s comments, arguing that Ozzy was no longer able to defend himself against the claims.
“There’s something spectacularly classless about Dee Snider trying to diminish my father Ozzy Osbourne and his extraordinary abilities and achievements when he’s no longer here to challenge his allegations,” she wrote.
She continued by questioning how much Snider could really know about Ozzy’s private working relationships and suggested that some of the information may have come from people who had their own conflicts with the Osbourne camp.
Kelly later made the comparison between the two musicians even more direct.
“And if Snider wants to invite comparisons between their careers, that comparison is devastating enough on its own,” she wrote. “Snider had a brief period of mainstream success 40 years ago. My father’s career spanned nearly six decades – from helping define heavy metal with Black Sabbath to building an extraordinary solo career.”
She also suggested that Snider may have been looking for attention by bringing the subject back into public discussion.
“It’s difficult not to wonder whether Snider’s attempt to belittle my father is simply a way of getting people talking about him again,” she wrote.
Kelly ended her statement with one of her strongest attacks on the Twisted Sister singer.
“My father doesn’t need Dee Snider’s approval to establish his place in music history,” she wrote. “And trying to make my father smaller won’t make Dee Snider bigger.”
She added:
“However, I would like to thank Dee Snider for allowing the world to see how truly desperate he really is!”
Snider later tried to make his position clearer, saying that his comments were not meant as a personal attack on Ozzy.
“To be clear, I HAVE NOTHING BUT LOVE FOR OZZY,” Snider said. “He was always lovely to me. Black Sabbath changed my life! As a songwriter I can be a little touchy about credit and royalties.”
At the center of the argument is a much older debate about who actually wrote the lyrics on several important Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne records.
Geezer Butler has long been known as Black Sabbath’s main lyricist during much of the band’s classic period. Because of that, Snider’s comments about Butler were not especially surprising to many longtime Sabbath fans.
The more controversial part of Snider’s argument concerned Bob Daisley.
Daisley has said for years that he played a major role in writing lyrics during Ozzy’s early solo career, particularly around the first two albums. Snider later clarified that this was the main point behind his comments: he believes Daisley’s lyrical contribution to those records was much larger than many listeners realize.
Snider also mentioned Lemmy, who famously contributed lyrics to Ozzy songs later in his solo career.
