Though difficult to fathom, it has been almost a year since the death of Ozzy Osbourne - and as the author of a new book about the Black Sabbath frontman argues, the late hard rock icon can teach us a great deal about life - and death. Keith Kahn-Harris, author of the captivating new book The Beautiful Death of Ozzy Osbourne: How Metal Teaches Us to Live, examines the remarkable life and death of the King of Darkness.

An authority on Metal, and one of the pioneers of Metal Studies as an academic field in UK universities, he argues not only was Birmingham's most celebrated son a musical icon, but a distinctive individual who extracted every ounce from life - especially as death drew near. "To borrow a quote from his son Jack which to me is just perfect, Ozzy swallowed the galaxy and didn't know what to do with it", he tells the Mirror. "He was insatiable. He got addicted to more or less everything."

One Ozzy story that resonated with the writer as he composed his book was an illustration of his dependency on virtually everything he encountered, reports the Mirror.

"At one point, he and Sharon went on a trip to France and... he basically got addicted to snails. He was suddenly wanting snails - every single day. He'd be like, 'Sharon, I'm having snails today!'"

He added: "There is one point in their reality show The Osbournes where he's totally addicted to burritos. He just couldn't get enough new experiences."

Naturally, those new experiences would also encompass his devastating struggles with alcohol and cocaine which very nearly destroyed Ozzy's career - alongside well-documented battles with prescription medication, tobacco, and sex.

Kahn-Harris said: "That could be incredibly toxic and incredibly dangerous, and it was. It led him to do bad things, no question. But he had success beyond anything he'd ever imagined."

"He experienced and lived so much, for good and bad. He was never really in control of himself. His whole life was so implausible."

When Ozzy died last 22nd July aged 76, merely 17 days after his final, profoundly emotional Back to the Beginning concert in his native Birmingham, the entire nation seemed to be plunged into mourning.

He passed away peacefully at his Buckinghamshire home, surrounded by his wife Sharon and their children, following numerous long-standing health problems, including Parkinson's disease.