In a new interview with U.K.’s Primordial Radio, Andrea Ferro of Italian metallers LACUNA COIL paid tribute to legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne who died last week at the age of 76. Andrea said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “BLACK SABBATH, obviously, we grew up with their music, and being huge TYPE O NEGATIVE fans — TYPE O NEGATIVE was kind of a reincarnation of the BLACK SABBATH sound for us. And it was more the way we discovered that sound. And then we went back to BLACK SABBATH because of TYPE O NEGATIVE. It’s always like that — you grow up and you listen to something, then you get where the original inspiration came from, so we became also big BLACK SABBATH fans. But the fact that we got to do two Ozzfests in America, in 2004 and 2006, and we got to meet Ozzy and [his wife and manager] Sharon. We’ve been picked up by [Ozzy and Sharon‘s children] Kelly and Jack the very first time we were on Ozzfest in 2004 for the second stage.”
He continued: “For us, we always consider Ozzy like our godfather, even if we don’t know him really well. We just met him briefly. But still, for us, he was always an important figure. He was like our older uncle, not only because of the musical inspiration, but also because we felt he gave us a special occasion to shine and to break into the North American market. And for a band from Italy, it’s not very easy or not very common to happen. So for us, Ozzy was always that almost father figure of, like, we owe him something, because he’s been very kind and Sharon‘s always been kind to us, and we’ve been upgraded to the main stage in 2006. So it really made a difference for us.”
Andrea added: “When we [played Ozzfest] in 2004, it was actually BLACK SABBATH headlining on the original lineup, and we were hanging out with them also on catering, and we became really good friends with Bill Ward, the drummer. Because he had a radio program on college radio in California, and he was playing our tunes on the program. So he always told us, ‘Hey, I play you guys all the time in my show.’ And so once we got the endorsement from Pearl Drums during Ozzfest, so he came to our trailer of the tour bus and built up the kit with our drummer and try the skins and try the position together. And that was a surreal moment, seeing Bill Ward right there with you, trying the drum kit, talking drums, coming to eat with us at catering. That was a unique experience. And then when we did it in 2006, Ozzy was headlining with his personal band, so we got to see both sets every night for the entire summer. And so for us, Ozzy is definitely a special, special figure.”
Reflecting on Ozzy‘s passing, which happened a little over two weeks after the singer’s final performance at the “Back To The Beginning” event in BLACK SABBATH‘s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Andrea said: “It was very sad, obviously, for what happened, but it was also great to… I watched the show streaming, the ‘Back To The Beginning’ show, and it was great to see that he was there one more time for his fans, doing charity stuff with all those great bands and friends, because we know most of these guys, because we tour with a lot of those bands and people. And to see that, it was relieving, because at least he got to do that before he knew probably that he didn’t have a lot of time in front of him. And so it was kind of both sad and bittersweet, because I was happy for him to be able to do it. On the other hand, you knew that it was gonna be sort of a real ending. And so it was sad news. But on the other hand, I am glad he did have the chance to do 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.
