[3] He first started listening to the music of Aerosmith and Ted Nugent, then became greatly interested in punk rock after a few years.

[4] In the early 1980s, Osborne founded the Melvins with Matt Lukin and Mike Dillard who all attended Montesano High School (Wheeler Building) where he graduated in 1982.

The Melvins began playing fast hardcore punk after Osborne was introduced to bands such as Black Flag, Flipper, and MDC by a friend.

[6] In 2014, Osborne announced his first solo acoustic tour along with a 10" EP entitled This Machine Kills Artists and an album to follow in June on Ipecac Recordings.

Osborne makes a cameo appearance in the 2014 video game Sunset Overdrive as himself and performs a song for the soundtrack.

[13][14][15][16][17] Labelled as an "icon of the alt-metal world",[18] Osborne has been named a key influence by guitarists such as Kurt Cobain (Nirvana),[19] Adam Jones (Tool),[20] Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters),[21] Kim Thayil (Soundgarden),[22] Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher (Mastodon),[23][24] Matt Pike (Sleep),[25] Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O)))),[26][27] Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod),[28] Hank Williams III[29] and Nate Garrett (Spirit Adrift).

[30] Adam Jones said that Osborne possesses the two most important qualities for any guitarist, i.e. "attitude and discipline", and compared his artistry with King Crimson founder Robert Fripp.

"[20] Scott Kelly of Neurosis stated that Osborne's non-cyclical approach to riffs was a massive influence on his band, wherein he plays a section once or at most twice in a song without repeating it again.

[31] Kim Thayil cited that same aspect as highly inspirational,[32] in addition to Osborne's drop D tuning and slower compositions.

[22] Dylan Carlson, leader of the drone metal band Earth, has constantly cited Osborne's personal advice as a guide for his career path.

[33][34][35] The bands Earth and Sunn O))), which were heavily influenced by Melvins' slower pieces, based their amplifier choices on those of Osborne,[36][37] as did Clutch as well.

[38] After Corrosion of Conformity original singer Mike Dean left the band in 1987, they contacted Osborne to join in.

[41] He has denounced what he calls the romanticization of it, which he instead describes as a "horrendous nightmare"; Osborne was a childhood friend of Kurt Cobain and remained close to Chris Cornell of Soundgarden until both singers committed suicide following their struggles with drug addiction.

[44] In a 2018 interview, asked if his feelings about that period changed after the deaths of Cobain and Cornell, Osborne replied:It's totally tainted.

I pretty much say whatever I think, ... And if people want to look at that with some kind of nostalgia, good old days type of thing, I just don't see how suicide and heroin addiction are romantic in any way.

"[9] In 2008, he told the magazine Alarm that he opposes what he sees as both modern socialist and fascist thought, stating that he's "into true liberalism, which means you mind your own goddamn business; you take care of yourself.

"[51] In a 2008 interview with City Newspaper of Rochester, when asked about his collaboration with Jello Biafra on two albums, Osborne stated that "I don't relate at all to his politics.

'"[9] Osborne primarily uses Gibson Les Paul guitars from the 1960s and 1970s, played through Boss effect pedals, and an assortment of vintage amplifiers.