In a new interview with Shaggy of the 94.9 and 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho, CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer spoke about the recent passing of legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Man, I loved SABBATH growing up. And to me, he was the king of heavy music. I don’t use the word ‘metal’ because — I don’t know — he did so much more than that. But he really was the innovator to me, starting with BLACK SABBATH and then with the solo stuff of just the heavy, heavy, hard, dark rock. His lyrics were just amazing. Obviously, his persona was just — everybody loved Ozzy.
“I spent a lot of time with [Ozzy] on [CINDERELLA‘s] trip to Moscow [Russia] for the Moscow Music Peace Festival [in 1989]. That’s probably the most that I had been around him, and he was just such a great guy and just so funny. He just had everybody laughing all the time. So it’s a great loss — really great loss.”
Asked if he had a “crazy Ozzy Osbourne story” to share, Tom said: “Yeah, I’m trying to think. I think one of the funniest moments was, we did a press conference when we first got there, and he was asked, ‘What’s the difference between America and Russia?’ And remember this is back in the ’80s, so Domino’s Pizza [had] the whole [marketing campaign where they promised a pizza delivery in] ’30 minutes or your pizza’s free’. He just said something kind of like, In America, if we don’t get our pizza in 30 minutes, we’re angry and we want it for free.’ And he said, ‘They’re still waiting for their pizza here.’ And just the whole room just cracked up. [Laughs] I think anyone that was at that press conference will remember that moment, because he just had a way about him. He was just funny.”
After Shaggy noted that Ozzy still sounded great at his final performance, which took place a little over two weeks before his death, Tom concurred. “I’ve seen clips from it. It’s really great,” he said. “And, yeah, I really love that track that he released recently; ‘Gods Of Rock N Roll’ [Ozzy‘s collaborative song with Billy Morrison] is amazing. His voice is as good as ever. And, actually, fun fact — Fred Coury, the drummer of CINDERELLA, scored the strings on that track and was involved in that track… Yeah, it’s a beautiful track, man. I really love it. His voice just still sounded so amazing.”
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.
