How Ozzy Osbourne Turned a Televangelist Scandal Into ‘Miracle Man’
When Ozzy Osbourne kicked off his fifth studio album with “Miracle Man,” he wasn’t just launching another heavy metal record—he was delivering an almighty diss track aimed squarely at a disgraced televangelist. During the height of the Satanic Panic in 1986, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart waged a vocal personal crusade against rock music, branding bands and rock magazines as “pornography and degenerative filth.” His influence was heavy enough that roughly 800 Walmart stores across North America pulled rock magazines and albums by artists like Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, and Judas Priest from their shelves.
The Downfall That Inspired ‘Miracle Man’
While Ozzy and his band were working on the follow-up to The Ultimate Sin in early 1988, news broke that Swaggart—a first cousin of rock ‘n’ roller Jerry Lee Lewis—had visited a sex worker in a New Orleans motel. Swaggart subsequently delivered a tearful, televised apology from the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge that February. That televised meltdown provided the exact spark for the opening song on No Rest for The Wicked.
Written by Ozzy, new guitarist Zakk Wylde, and returning bassist Bob Daisley, “Miracle Man” skewered the preacher under the thinly veiled pseudonym ‘Jimmy Sinner.’ The second verse directly references the scandal with the lines, “Today I saw a miracle man on TV crying, such a hypocritical man, born again, dying.”
Enter Zakk Wylde
The album also marked the studio debut of Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt, a 21-year-old guitarist with a blond mane and a playing style reminiscent of Randy Rhoads. Recruited by Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon after the dismissal of Jake E. Lee, the guitarist was renamed Zakk Wylde, bringing a fresh crunch to the material. Wylde later revealed that his guitar parts on the track drew inspiration from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1967 single “Foxy Lady.”
Pigs in a Church: The Music Video
The mockery extended directly into the promotional video for the single, released on October 24, 1988. Directed by Wayne Isham and filmed in England, the visual opens with Ozzy wearing a latex mask molded to resemble Swaggart’s remorseful face. The performance features Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler—who joined shortly after recording wrapped—alongside roughly sixty pigs running amok inside a church. The chaos of the shoot left the vocalist with an unexpected casualty: a ruined pair of suede boots.
“When the music went on, the pigs all took a massive shit at the same time,” Osbourne told Guitar World. “Because it was so fucking loud in there… The playback started and they all went pfffffftttt! Sixty pigs shitting! I had a pair of brand new suede boots on, and that was the end of them.”
Related reading: Jim Bakker, Fraud Televangelist Who Inspired Ozzy & Iron Maiden, Dead at 86, Deep Purple and Kansas Kick Off 2026 Summer Tour With Jefferson Starship
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