The late musician’s oldest son spoke about learning just how much the Prince of Darkness meant to people in an interview on his half-brother Jack’s podcast
Ozzy Osbourne’s eldest son, Louis Osbourne, described the “humbling” sensation of seeing so many fans turn out to celebrate and mourn his father after the metal legend’s death earlier this year.
In a rare interview on his half-brother Jack’s Trying Not to Die podcast Tuesday (Nov. 18), Louis said he was stunned at how many people attended the funeral procession in Osbourne’s hometown of Birmingham, England. Louis, who still lives in Birmingham, said he expected the crowd to be “two or three people deep” on the main drag leading to the Black Sabbath bridge.
“As we came towards the street and turned onto the street — I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it now, it was fucking insane!” Louis said. “People climbing up lampposts, hanging out of windows, standing on top of bus stops to get a look at it. It was awe-inspiring.”
He added, “I knew people loved him, but I didn’t have a sense of how many and how much. It’s been quite humbling in many, many ways.”
On top of all that, Louis said he’d also come to better understand the massive “cultural impact” Osbourne had. He stressed that he wasn’t taking his father’s fame and success “for granted,” prompting Jack to note, “It’s just when you’re in it, you don’t see it… It’s just dad.”
Louis said he felt something similar at the “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert, as he watched all the musicians who’d shown up to honor Osbourne pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness backstage. These included Metallica’s James Hetfield and Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose, whom Osbourne had somehow never met before.
“I think it was in the Eighties where people probably kept them at a distance because they were both so fucking mad in their own ways, it could’ve just gone horribly wrong,” Louis said with a laugh.
