Ozzy Osbourne – The Wild Story Behind the “Bark at the Moon” Album Cover
On September 1st, 1983, Ozzy Osbourne became something more than the Prince of Darkness. He became a werewolf.
At Shepperton Studios in England, Ozzy spent an entire freezing night being transformed into the terrifying creature that would eventually appear on the cover of his third solo album “Bark at the Moon”. What followed was one of the strangest and most demanding album-cover photoshoots in heavy metal history.
And, naturally, it involved Ozzy, real Rottweilers, mountains of makeup, artificial fog, electrical problems and a very unhappy 5:00 AM Ozzy.
From Roman Warrior to Werewolf
The original idea for the cover wasn’t actually a werewolf.
CBS art directors reportedly wanted Ozzy to look like a warrior from an old Roman epic, with a real wolf skin draped over his head and body.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne weren’t exactly sold on the concept.
Instead of simply throwing a wolf skin over Ozzy, they went for something much more dramatic: a full movie-style werewolf transformation.
That decision turned what could have been a fairly ordinary album shoot into a production that required serious special-effects work.
Makeup artist Greg Channon, who had previously worked on A Nightmare on Elm Street, was responsible for turning Ozzy into the beast.
And this wasn’t a quick application of some fake fur and face paint.
Eight Hours in the Makeup Chair
The transformation took around eight hours.
Full facial prosthetics were applied along with custom-made fake teeth, layers of real and synthetic hair and other effects designed to make Ozzy look genuinely monstrous.
Once the prosthetics and fangs were in place, even basic things became difficult.
Ozzy couldn’t properly eat or speak, so he spent much of the shoot surviving on liquids through a straw.
And getting the makeup off wasn’t exactly a relaxing end to the night. Removing the prosthetics required strong spirit-gum removers and solvents, leaving Ozzy skin irritated and red for days afterward.
For a photoshoot that would ultimately produce one of metal most recognizable album covers, the process was anything but glamorous.
September 1, 1983
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) September 1, 2024
‘Bark at the Moon’ Album Cover Photoshoot pic.twitter.com/8hxHzQhvrV
Ozzy vs. The Rottweilers
Then came the dogs.
Real Rottweilers were brought onto the set for the photoshoot, which sounds like exactly the kind of idea someone would have after deciding that Ozzy should become a werewolf.
There was just one problem. Ozzy was terrified of dogs.
Photographer Fin Costello later recalled that Ozzy could handle being around the animals reasonably well, but things became much more uncomfortable when he had to get down on all fours while the Rottweilers chased him.
The irony was almost too perfect: one of heavy metal most famous wild men, covered head-to-toe in werewolf makeup, being chased by dogs while trying not to panic.
Costello captured several different poses during the night, including Ozzy standing upright, howling toward the moon and snarling directly at the Rottweilers.
But the image that survived became the classic.
Ozzy on all fours.
Staring straight into the camera.
A werewolf in the darkness.
The “Moon” Wasn’t the Moon
There’s another great bit of movie magic hiding in the finished image.
That huge glowing moon behind Ozzy wasn’t actually the moon.
Costello used a powerful studio strobe light mounted high on a crane, with gelled lighting used to create the piercing white glow.
The graveyard atmosphere was also manufactured.
Industrial smoke machines pumped dense fog across the set, creating the sinister atmosphere that became such an important part of the photograph.
Unfortunately, the fog wasn’t particularly friendly to the equipment.
It became so thick that it coated camera lenses and even caused problems with some of the electrical generators.
Basically, the crew was trying to photograph a werewolf while their equipment was slowly being attacked by artificial weather.
A Freezing Night at Shepperton
The shoot required complete darkness, so the production continued through the night.
And it was freezing.
The crew worked from dusk until around 6:00 AM, battling the cold while Ozzy remained trapped inside layers of prosthetics, hair and makeup.
By approximately 5:00 AM, Ozzy had finally had enough.
Photographer Fin Costello later remembered an almost surreal scene on the set: a completely made-up werewolf Ozzy, Sharon Osbourne who had given birth only two days earlier, a nanny carrying a baby in a Moses basket and a studio tea lady casually serving hot drinks.
It sounds less like a heavy metal photoshoot and more like a scene from a bizarre British comedy.
But somehow, it happened. And the bill reflected just how elaborate the whole thing had become.
The production reportedly cost around £50,000, an enormous amount of money for an album-cover photoshoot at the time.
From Album Cover to Music Video
The werewolf wasn’t finished with Ozzy yet.
He also had to keep the makeup on for the filming of the “Bark at the Moon” music video.
The video was filmed inside a real abandoned Victorian mental asylum in England, adding another layer of genuine creepiness to the whole project.
According to the behind-the-scenes story, the crew discovered old patient medical files and jars scattered around the decaying building.
No elaborate Hollywood horror set required.
They already had one.
A Cover That Became Metal History
When “Bark at the Moon” was released on November 15th, 1983, the cover immediately fit the album dark, theatrical character.
But knowing what went into creating that single image makes it even more memorable. It wasn’t simply Ozzy wearing a costume.
It was eight hours of makeup, a freezing overnight shoot, artificial fog, malfunctioning equipment, expensive production gear, real Rottweilers and a photographer trying to capture the perfect monster.
And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos was Ozzy Osbourne covered in hair, wearing fake fangs, unable to eat properly and desperately wanting the whole thing to end.
The result?
One of the most iconic images of 1980s heavy metal.
Not bad for a night’s work.
By
