During an August 6 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy spoke about the recent passing of legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The impact has been huge. I don’t know if I’ve felt a loss like this… This is as big as John Lennon or whatever. Obviously, in our world, in the metal world, you have losses like [Ronnie James] Dio or Lemmy or Eddie Van Halen, and those are massive. But this has been a whole other level of mainstream. Because he transcends metal, he transcends rock even, he transcends music. He’s a pop culture figure. So this has been a huge one.”
Portnoy went on to say that he went back and listened to Ozzy‘s music as a way of remembering the heavy metal icon, who was 76 years old at the time of his death. “First, I was going through the whole SABBATH catalog after the [‘Back To The Beginning’ farewell] concert [in early July],” he said. “And then after he passed, I’ve been going back through the solo catalog. And it’s been a great, great musical trip to be revisiting all this stuff. It’s amazing. What a career. But, yeah, what a loss.”
Mike added that it was “a gift” that Ozzy got a chance to play one last concert for 40,000 fans at the Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom and more than five million via a livestream. “What a blessing that that happened, that he got to say goodbye to the fans, do a final show surrounded by every band that loves him and grew up with him and he influenced,” Mike said. “And what a blessing to have done that. Now, I don’t wanna be like a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if some of that contributed. ‘Cause it had to have been so stressful, it had to have been so exhausting. It probably took a lot out of him to go through rehearsals and everything like that. So I can only imagine. But thank God he got to do that show and to have that goodbye. He threw the greatest farewell concert of all time. Incredible… It was a gift for him and a gift for the fans and his loved ones. What a way to say goodbye, really. I mean, you’ve seen these tribute concerts, like the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, which was amazing, and the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. But this was a rare case where you had a tribute concert when he actually got to be there and attend it and be part of it. So, really, it was the ultimate farewell. Incredible.”
Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease.
A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer’s friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).
The day before the private funeral, thousands of fans gathered in the streets of Birmingham to pay tribute to Ozzy. Sharon, along with their children Aimée, Kelly and Jack, joined mourners for the emotional tribute.
Back in 2013, Portnoy commented on BLACK SABBATH‘s decision to record and tour without original drummer Bill Ward, telling former RIP magazine editor and veteran music journalist Lonn Friend‘s “Energize With Lonn Friend” podcast: “Here’s my issue with it. I have no issue if Bill Ward is not fit to play in SABBATH, as they’re saying. Or I have no issue with it if they’re having money litigations and problems and they couldn’t agree on something that was fair. My issue is that they’re calling it a BLACK SABBATH reunion. It’s not a BLACK SABBATH reunion without the four of them. It is now just the latest BLACK SABBATH lineup.”
He continued: “Why is this BLACK SABBATH, but [SABBATH offshoot band] HEAVEN & HELL wasn’t BLACK SABBATH? I mean, we all know the real reason for it. But it’s not a true BLACK SABBATH reunion without Bill Ward. And if they need to do it without Bill, then they do it without Bill. But don’t call it a reunion. It’s just BLACK SABBATH 2013.”
