Sharon Osbourne has said that Ozzy “knew” he was nearing the end of his life around the time of the ‘Back To The Beginning’ final show, but powered through because “he wanted to do it so bad”.
The star-studded show went down at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5 last year, the final show in the career of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. It took on added poignancy when Ozzy Osbourne passed away less than three weeks later.
The 76-year-old died from a heart attack and had been in poor health beforehand, suffering from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s.
Jack Osbourne then went on to reveal that the final gig he held helped raise “six or seven million pounds” for charity.
Now, Sharon Osbourne has spoken about Ozzy’s health in the run-up to the gig, and said that the Prince Of Darkness was aware of his ill health around the time of the show, but was determined to make it to the event.
“Two weeks before the show, they said he could probably die, and he did. But he wanted to do it so bad,” she said on the Dumb Blonde podcast. “He needed it. And [he was] like, ‘Whether I die in two weeks or I die in six months, I’m still dying. And I want to go my way.’ And he did. He went like a rock star.”
She also opened up about how the metal pioneer had fought off sepsis earlier that year, and as a result “knew it was time” to start thinking realistically about the limited time he had left.
“When he came out [of hospital], they said, ‘You know, Ozzy, this could kill you.’ And he said, ‘I’m doing my show.’ He went out like a king,” she shared.
“The thing is when you’ve lived your life that way, it was, like, ‘OK, six months more to go out the way I want to go out’,” she added. “It’s like when you get really old who is still smoking and they’re 78 years of age, you’re like ‘Just let him smoke. Leave him alone. He’s 78.’ He went the way he wanted to go. He knew.”
Sharon also went on to say that his death, aged 76, happened “so quick”, and described him as “a king”.
“He loved people. He loved his audience. He loved them so much. And even if you didn’t like his music, you couldn’t dislike him,” she added, also saying that she is still finding it “hard” to come to terms with the loss.
“I’m getting there. It’s hard,” she said. “I’m gonna keep working and I’m going to keep doing what I do in my life. And that’s it.”
The comments about Ozzy coming to terms with the toll that the final show would have on him are similar to those shared by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi last year – when he said that he believes the frontman “really just held out to do that show”.
Around that same time, bassist Geezer Butler admitted that he “wasn’t prepared” to see how frail Ozzy was at the final gig and, more recently, Jack Osbourne got emotional recalling how “happy” his father was after completing the performance.
In October, it was revealed that Ozzy had written about a heart problem he was suffering from for a new memoir just days before he died, and in December, Sharon opened up about her decision not to “go with Ozzy” in an assisted-suicide pact.
Sharon, who was Ozzy’s wife and manager, has also revealed the touching final words that he said to her, sharing that the Black Sabbath icon was “up and down to the bathroom all night” and asked her to “wake up” around 4am.
