In a new interview with the Springfield rock station Q102, FILTER leader Richard Patrick reflected on his band’s 1996 tour as the support act for Ozzy Osbourne. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It was amazing. We were invited to go on tour with them. The first day of the tour, I wanted to check my guitar and I was on stage just kind of playing the guitar riff. And all of a sudden I turn around and Ozzy Osbourne is standing right next to me, and he’s, like, ‘I love that riff, man. I love that riff to ‘Hey Man Nice Shot’. That’s a great riff.’ I’m, like, the only thing I could say was, like, ‘Thank you, Mr. Osbourne.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, it’s Ozzy, Rich. Don’t worry about it.'”
Patrick added: “He was a great guy. And towards the end of the tour, I bought him a big box of cigars, ’cause he was smoking cigars, and so was I back then, and he was like very appreciative and he lit my cigar for me. And it was really cool. It was 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.
