That second half of July that we all experienced is certainly going to be a time to remember.
I say that because it was a frame of time in which the world lost two certifiable icons of their collective industries within just a couple of days between each other.
Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan.
Ozzy died on July 22 at the age of 76, and Hulk followed just two days later on July 24 at the age of 71.
What an odd, bizarre pairing of celebrities to have left the world just 48 hours from each other.
One of them, Osbourne, was a hard rock icon who broke onto the scene with his band Black Sabbath in the 1970's before stepping out on his own, making his indelible mark on the music industry and standing out not only with his voice, but certainly his mystique. Ozzy sold more than 100 million albums throughout his long, storied career, and he became known as the Prince of Darkness in his heyday. Just a little over two weeks before his death, Osbourne reunited with all of his original Black Sabbath bandmates for an outdoor show in Birmingham, England that was a benefit show, which raised an astounding 140 million pounds that was to be divided equally between the Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Cure Parkinson's organization.
Osbourne himself, in physical rough shape, performed the show seated in a throne onstage, as the Parkinson's disease he was diagnosed with in 2019 had wreaked havoc on his spine over the last six years of his life.
The show saw 45,000 people in attendance, and I saw so many clips posted online, showing a visibly weathered Osbourne performing while seated onstage. The visual of that was enough to make fans feel like a train had just hit them, seeing their hero Ozzy in that kind of shape, but it also spoke volumes about his commitment to giving fans the show and helping to raise that mountain of money for very worth causes.
When Ozzy died just a little over two weeks later, the picture just came directly into focus and all of his fans knew; Osbourne was actually dying on that stage. His body was reaching the final stages of shutting down and the lights were almost out.
I'll tell ya, searching for video clips online and watching him perform 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' while seated on that stage is incredible. It was like he knew before anyone else.
There's something hauntingly beautiful about that, despite the sadness that comes with knowing that Ozzy is no longer with us.
The other celebrity who passed, Hogan, was another trailblazer himself in the 1980's when he became the torch bearer for professional wrestling entering the mainstream of popular culture. Before then, wrestling was held in smoke-filled auditoriums and talent wasn't exactly making a bountiful living off of taking body slams and dropkicks.
But after Hogan became the WWF world champion in 1984 and the product started snapping up national television coverage with network TV specials and the very first WrestleMania event, things just became big, big, BIG in a short amount of time. It was like watching lightning be captured in a bottle.
Hogan hosted Saturday Night Live, and he even had a Saturday morning cartoon. He graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, and he transcended the industry of professional wrestling, crossing over to become a household celebrity name among the mainstream talents like movie stars, rock bands and popular athletes.
It was Hogan's star power and contributions that helped make the now WWE what it is today; a billion-dollar empire recently acquired by TKO (owner of UFC) that is now worth more money than ever before.
To put it bluntly, if Hogan didn't blow up in global popularity back in the 80's, pro wrestling would be a shell of itself today.
The fact that these two icons of their respective industries, Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan, died just 48 hours from each other, is astounding to me.
Ozzy, a rock and roll legend who entertained millions of people for over 50 years.
Hulk, a pro wrestling legend who entertained millions of those same people for over 40 years.
And then, POOF, they're both essentially wiped out of our world's consciousness within two days of each other.
It's a slap of cold reality, to be honest. Whether you grew up a pro wrestling fanatic like me and respected what Hogan meant to the industry (even if, personally, I was never a Hogan fan), or whether you grew up a heavy metal fanatic and adored Osbourne's music (I was certainly an Ozzy fan, though!), the fact that both men were removed from our world at essentially the same time is a one-two punch of which many of us will need some time to recover.
It sucks when our heroes fall. It sucks even more when we have to face reality when that happens, and we come to realize that it feels as if time is jetting by all of us at lightning speed.
Then we may look in the mirror one day and come to realize: 'Damn, I'm getting old too.'
As we can see, time waits for no one.
So you have to go out there and make it count.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
