The basement in Charlie Miller鈥檚 Princeton Heights home is stuffed full of Ozzy Osbourne memorabilia 鈥 some 1,200 pieces of it.
He has autographed posters, autographed records and three autographed guitars. Two of the guitars were signed by all four members of Osbourne鈥檚 first band, Black Sabbath; the third was signed by Osbourne alone.
He has T-shirts and tour books and autographed baseballs. He has a couple of plush stuffed bats (Osbourne, the original bad boy of heavy metal rock, is famously said to have once bitten the head off a bat in concert). He has Missouri license plates reading 鈥淥zzy.鈥
Charlie Miller bought two old gumball machines and refurbished them to honor Ozzy Osbourne鈥檚 music with Black Sabbath and his solo career.
He has two gumball machines from the 1950s that he refurbished, repainted and refilled with color-appropriate gumballs: black and purple for the Black Sabbath machine, yellow and red for the Ozzy Osbourne machine.
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Osbourne died last week of Parkinson鈥檚 disease; the British rocker was 76.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sad, but it鈥檚 not the end of the world. There are more happy memories than sad,鈥 Miller says.
鈥淗e did his last concert with his old friends from school back in his old hometown just two weeks before. I kind of think he hung on just for that.鈥
Miller mourned his passing by playing a few carefully chosen songs: 鈥淪ee You on the Other Side,鈥 which is about seeing someone again after they have both died, 鈥淕oodbye to Romance,鈥 which Miller calls 鈥渒ind of a sad one,鈥 and 鈥淢ama, I鈥檓 Coming Home.鈥
Osbourne also performed 鈥淢ama, I鈥檓 Coming Home鈥 in the July 5 concert in his hometown of Birmingham, England. The concert was promoted as Black Sabbath鈥檚 final show. Despite Osbourne鈥檚 illness, Miller says he was in fine voice during the harder rocking songs.
鈥淏ut the crowd favorite was when he played 鈥楳ama, I鈥檓 Coming Home,鈥 which is a slower tune. He struggled on that, but the crowd loved that even more because he was struggling. It was really cool to see,鈥 Miller says.
Miller, 58, was first introduced to Osbourne鈥檚 music in 1980, when he was in 8th grade. It was right after Osbourne had been kicked out of Black Sabbath for substance abuse and related behavior.
Charlie Miller met his favorite musician Ozzy Osbourne (right) several times.
鈥淎 friend brought a copy of 鈥楤lizzard of Ozz.鈥 He brought it to school. I was just blown away by the front cover even before I heard it. I took it home and played it, and I was hooked,鈥 he says.
鈥淎fter about a month or so of listening to it, my older sister brought home the Black Sabbath 鈥楶aranoid鈥 record. That鈥檚 when I discovered he had a 10-year career before I discovered him in 鈥80.鈥
Miller went to his first Osbourne concert the next year, when he was 15 (鈥渢he music was so cool to a 15-year-old boy,鈥 he says). It was the 鈥淒iary of a Madman鈥 tour, in support of Osbourne鈥檚 second solo album. And in some respects, it changed Miller鈥檚 life.
鈥淲hen I got to the merchandise counter, I saw the shirts with his picture on them. I didn鈥檛 have much money, but I told the guy I needed two of those shirts,鈥 he says.
鈥淎fter I got those shirts, I had to get anything with his name on it. I don鈥檛 know why 鈥 the collector mentality. If he had it or touched it or talked about it, I had to have it. I was just addicted to it from the start.鈥
The friend who first introduced him to Osbourne鈥檚 music, Andy Amann, was as big a fan as Miller. He later got a job as a stagehand, and whenever Osbourne came to town he would invite Miller backstage.
Amann died last year. Miller inherited part of his equally large collection of Osbourne memorabilia.
Charlie Miller鈥檚 collection of Ozzy Osbourne memorabilia includes Missouri vanity license plates.
Miller works in the office of the 51黑料 Collector of Revenue; he has known his wife, Beth, since grade school. Because they have known each other so long, she knew all about his Osbourne obsession before they started dating.
鈥淪he tolerates the collection. I have to make sure I don鈥檛 turn it up above 10 if she鈥檚 in the house. If she鈥檚 outside the house, I can turn it up to about 100,鈥 he says.
鈥淢y wife has a massive, massive Mickey Mouse collection. Her stuff gets to stay upstairs in the house. My stuff has to be in the basement.鈥
One photo from their wedding shows little statues of Ozzy Osbourne and Mickey Mouse, with their wedding rings hanging from them.
Miller picked up his very favorite piece of Osbourne memorabilia in 1983. He had purchased a bootleg recording of an Osbourne concert before he knew what bootleg recordings were or why performers hate them. This particular album was produced especially cheaply, with a blank white cover that had no writing on either side. Miller brought it with him to an Osbourne appearance at Peaches Records and Tapes.
鈥淗e looked at it, he looked at me, he flipped it over to the back and he just put it down and autographed it big across the back cover. He put his full name all across to the end, and he put a period at the end,鈥 he says.
Other people around the world have Osbourne collections that are much larger than his own, Miller says, but his is the largest that he knows of in the area.
鈥淚 know that eventually it is going to have to go, but at this moment I鈥檓 not ready yet.鈥
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
