The day after Ozzy Osbourne‘s passing, SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman Billy Corgan was a guest on the “Klein.Ally.Show” on the KROQ radio station to discuss the impact the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer had on his musical upbringing. The 58-year-old Corgan, who had performed at Ozzy‘s final concert in Birmingham, United Kingdom just two weeks earlier, said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The beautiful thing is there’s been such an incredible outpouring of tributes [in the hours after Ozzy‘s death was announced]. I’ve been sitting on social media, and literally everybody I follow — I don’t care if it’s a clothing company, I don’t care if it’s a pedal maker — everybody [was] paying tribute to Ozzy [on the day that he died]. I think it’s so amazing that he had this connection with people, and you see it.
“I just went through it, of course, a few weeks ago in Birmingham with the [‘Back To The Beginning’] concert. But now to see this, it’s even more overwhelming,” he added.
Asked if he had a chance to speak with Ozzy at the final show in Birmingham, Billy said: “I kind of let him be because there was so many people wanting to talk to him. And there were people he hadn’t seen for years. And [Ozzy‘s wife and manager] Sharon and I had been discussing, ever since Sharon appeared on my podcast, that I was gonna go over to their house in L.A. and interview Ozzy. So in my mind, I was, like, ‘I’m just gonna wait. I’m gonna have that conversation when I see him after this.’
“I’d like to share one special moment though,” Corgan continued. “I don’t wanna say who the other person is — it’s somebody from a very famous alternative band. But when BLACK SABBATH soundchecked two nights before the actual concert, there was literally nobody in the stadium except security and me and this person from another famous alternative band. And we were literally watching BLACK SABBATH soundcheck with Ozzy for the last time. And Ozzy saw us down there and did the famous Ozzy — [he was] sitting in his chair, but he did the famous Ozzy peace sign to both of us down and smiled. And that’s the moment I’ll always hold on to, because it was in that private moment where it was just us and the band, basically. And both me and the other person — this is why I don’t wanna say who the person is — we both started crying because we couldn’t believe this magical dream of this band in our lives was coming to an end.”
Corgan also reflected on being introduced to BLACK SABBATH‘s music when he was just eight years old. He said: “My uncle was a drummer, and he had a very progressive kind of rock collection, and my grandmother, for some reason, let me play his records. And the first record in the stack was ‘Master Of Reality’. Never heard of the band, had no idea. And the first song I ever heard by them was ‘Sweet Leaf’. And it had such an impact on me, the sound of his voice. I couldn’t understand what was happening. It was like quicksilver through me. And then, of course, Tony‘s [Iommi] guitar. And I’m not saying anything, if you’re a SABBATH fan, that sounds new, but when you’re eight years old and you have no context for that, it was so shocking. And the feeling of them has never left me and it’s had such a huge influence on my music and my approach to music. So to be with them on that day, it was like a magical dream. And it’s been such a high. I think everybody involved — METALLICA, Tom Morello; I mean, everybody — we’ve been talking, and it was such an amazing event to be part of. It was the greatest musical event I think I’ve ever been a part of as sort of a one-day thing. It was so incredible. Everybody was on their best behavior. Everyone was playing their hearts out because there was so much love for Ozzy and the band. And I saw it. I mean, I saw it behind the scenes, I saw it when the cameras were on. And so to be coming off that high and then have somebody run in a room [on July 22] and say, ‘Oh my God. Ozzy just died,’ it was, like, ‘Wait. The movie’s not supposed to end like this.'”
Asked if it was shocking for him to hear that Ozzy had died, particularly considering that the singer had been battling serious health issues for years, Corgan said: “Well, I was around him, and obviously people were paying a lot of attention to the shape he was in. He was obviously not at a hundred percent. But if anybody’s seen those group photos where it was, like, me and METALLICA and so many of the artists playing, we were in this group photo, and the photographer was Ross Halfin, a very famous rock photographer, and we’ve all shot with Ross for years. And he’s been shooting Ozzy for 45 years. And Ozzy was cussing him out, just like you would hear in an episode of [Ozzy reality TV show] ‘The Osbournes’. So I saw nothing in his spirit that told me that he was anywhere near the end of his life. And talking about it with the band, we were almost thinking that maybe this concert was the thing that kept him going. Maybe the idea that there was this rainbow at the end of this particular road, maybe that kept his spirits up. And I am not saying once it was over, he was over. I’m just saying maybe the concert actually elongated his life because he had something to fight for, something to strive for, and to see how much that show and those artists meant to him… I mean, we all watch through our phone these days, but I was there, I was watching everybody turn into a little kid again because for a hard rock — you’ve got TOOL there, you’ve got Morello there, for bands like us, SABBATH has always been an alternative band; we never saw them as just a metal band. So the greatest rock stars in the world, we were all there for one reason. And there was so much love for Ozzy. When you see it in person, it was so humbling to be a part of that.”
Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the family said.
No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.
Ozzy‘s death came a little more than two weeks after he took the stage for his final performance with BLACK SABBATH at Villa Park in the band’s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom. They performed four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.
Formed in Birmingham in 1968, BLACK SABBATH is widely recognized as one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time, with a career spanning decades and over 75 million albums sold worldwide. Their impact on the genre remains as significant today as it was in the early 1970s, with their music shaping generations of metal musicians.
Ozzy‘s family reality television show “The Osbournes” won a 2002 Primetime Emmy.
In 2006, Osbourne and the other members of the original BLACK SABBATH were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Ozzy was also inducted into the Rock Hall as a solo artist in 2024.
Osbourne won several Grammys, including one in 1993 for his solo song “I Don’t Want To Change The World”.
Ozzy and his wife and manager Sharon started their annual tour — Ozzfest — in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what at the time was the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza. The first traveling version of Ozzfest in 1997 included MARILYN MANSON and PANTERA as part of the lineup.
Osbourne leaves behind his wife, three children from his first marriage (including an adopted son from his first wife’s previous relationship),and three with Sharon: Jack, Kelly and Aimee.
