Ozzy Osbourne was forced to return to the hospital before his legendary farewell concert, his family revealed in the first episode of The Osbournes Podcast since the metal legend’s death in July.
Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, and two children, Jack and Kelly, offered an emotional recap of the final months of the musician’s life, sharing new details about his myriad medical issues and determination to play one last gig. Osbourne died July 22 at the age of 76, just a few weeks after his “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert on July 5.
Osbourne had spent much of the preceding months battling an array of ailments, but the family had not previously disclosed his stay in the hospital just two weeks before the “Back to the Beginning” show. While they didn’t say what exactly put Osbourne in the hospital, they emphasized how important it was to keep the stay under wraps ahead of the show.
Sharon said the family was “terrified that people were going to find out,” so they gave very specific instructions (and even photographs of known visitors) to hospital staff and security to make sure no one came snooping around.
Then, someone showed up looking for a “John Osbourne” (Ozzy’s real name), claiming to be his brother. Sharon said she believed this person was a reporter, because not even Osbourne’s actual brothers knew he was in the hospital. Security were sent to assess the situation, and it turned out the man was the brother of a different John Osbourne also staying in the same hospital.
“Daddy was hysterical laughing,” Sharon said of Osbourne’s reaction to the mishap.
While Osbourne was dogged by medical issues during his final years — many of them stemming from a late-night fall in 2019 — Sharon, Jack, and Kelly said the last seven months were especially grueling. Last December, they revealed, he fell and fractured another vertebrae, then contracted pneumonia in the hospital.
He eventually underwent a surgery to address his spinal pain, only to wind up with pneumonia again, as well as sepsis. Other ailments included blood clots, the beginnings of emphysema, a damaged spine, Parkinson’s, a collapsed lung, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a condition caused by damage to the lungs), and heart problems.
Sharon admitted that she thought her husband might not survive his battle with sepsis, especially because of the debilitating antibiotics treatment it required. “It was draining every ounce of strength he had, and it was in March that we thought we were going to lose him,” she said.
It was also around this time that there was talk of canceling the “Back to the Beginning” concert. But Osbourne was resolute about going ahead with the show. “He wanted to say, ‘Thank you,’” Kelly said. “That meant more to him than anything in the world.”
“The human spirit is stronger than anything, and he was so determined — he was so determined to go do his show,” Sharon added. “He wasn’t going to give up on it.”
“He didn’t want to go out not doing it, and it was the best medicine for him,” said Jack.
Despite Osbourne’s determination, the family shared a few laughs as they recalled Ozzy’s grumpiness as he prepared. “I’ve never heard so many, ‘Fuck off, get out of here, fuck off,’ in my life,” Sharon cracked. “And every other day, ‘Cancel the show, I’m not doing it,’” Jack noted. “And then he’d be like, ‘No, no, no don’t cancel it.’”
The Osbournes said Ozzy was overwhelmed at how many people showed up for the final gig, and the massive reaction it engendered among fans. “He couldn’t believe the reviews and people’s reactions to the show,” Sharon said. “He was just like in awe. And when I say, he didn’t realize how many people loved him as a person — not as the frontman of Black Sabbath or as his own thing — it was just his being. People loved him. He never got it. He had no understanding of it whatsoever.”
The family also said they thought the energy Osbourne got from the gig would give him an extra jolt of strength, and even Sharon admitted that she “didn’t see him going as quickly as he went.” Kelly, however, said she believed Osbourne knew, even if everyone else did not.
“It’s only in retrospect that I see that now,” she said. “Because he started saying things to me that I think he was preparing me for when he wasn’t going to be here. I just thought that the buzz of the show, and everything that gave him, would give him enough to stick around a little longer.”
