Earlier today (Wednesday, July 23),Tony Iommi spoke to ITV News about the passing of his longtime BLACK SABBATH bandmate Ozzy Osbourne. SABBATH‘s founding guitarist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, it was a shock for us [to find out that Ozzy had died]. I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And it really didn’t sink in. And in the night I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’ But as I said before, he’s not looked well through the rehearsals [for BLACK SABBATH‘s farewell performance at ‘Back To The Beginning’]. And I think he really just held out to do that show. I really feel, and me and Geezer [Butler, SABBATH bassist] were talking about it last night, that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”
When the interviewer noted that playing that one final concert in SABBATH‘s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom “meant everything” to Ozzy, Tony concurred. “Oh, he’s built up for it for a while now,” he said. “He’s been sort of training and trying to do what he can, so he could do this gig, so he could do it. And that’s really what he wanted to do. I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it and he was determined to do it. And fair dues, he’d done it.”
On the topic of what it meant to all of the members of SABBATH to be together in Birmingham with Ozzy out there in front, around the corner from where they all grew up, Tony said: “It was really moving, I think. We all felt like, ‘Wow.’ And again, it was almost like a dream. Before you know it, we’re off stage. And [we were thinking], ‘What happened?'”
Asked what Ozzy was like when he came off stage, Tony said: “Well, he went to his dressing room and I went to mine and Geez went to his and so on. And then he came over. He came around before he was leaving on a wheelchair that brought him in to say goodbye and have a little chat for a bit. And he seemed all right. He enjoyed it. And he said, ‘Oh, it went all right, didn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it did.’ But as I say, when I had the text off him the day before yesterday saying he’s tired and he’s really got no energy. And I thought, ‘Oh, dear.’ ‘Cause it’s a lot for him to do that under the problems he’s got. And we could see it in rehearsal. We didn’t want him there every day at rehearsal, because it’s too much. He just wouldn’t be able to stand it. So they’d bring him in and he’d sit down and sing a few songs, and then we’d talk about some rubbish old times or whatever, have a laugh, and then he’d go. And that’s sort of what we did, really. But the gig was for him [to say goodbye], really, and for us to say goodbye, ’cause also SABBATH saying goodbye; it was the end of the band, and we’ll never do that again. And to have Bill [Ward, SABBATH drummer] with us as well after all these years, after 20 years of not playing with Bill. I can’t believe it’s 20 years, to be honest.”
Reflecting on SABBATH‘s early days when the band was formed, Tony said: “Oh, yeah. I think all those thoughts went through our heads. In fact, we talked about that when we were in the studio, when we were rehearsing. We sat down on the couch and we were all talking about old times, really. ‘Cause you always remember that. You can’t remember what happened yesterday, but you could remember what happened all that time ago. And so that’s really what we were doing. We were talking about all the things that happened. ‘Remember that, when we did this?’ ‘Remember?’ And it was great. It was just bringing us all together again, as it was in the early days. And to have Bill there as well. And Bill [laughs] — I mean, Bill‘s Bill. [Laughs] He never changed. We said, ‘Don’t take your shirt off, Bill, please.’ [Laughs]”
Asked if he thinks Ozzy enjoyed being on stage for that concert, Tony said: “I think he was moved and frustrated as well, ’cause he wanted to stand up. You could see he was trying to get up. But yeah, it meant everything to him. This is what we built up for, for that big ending where he could see all the people and we could all see all the people, and close it in that way. But we didn’t expect to close it so quick with Ozz; we didn’t expect him to go that quick, really. Well, we didn’t expect him to go. So it’s been a shock.”
Iommi went on to say that he is happy that SABBATH got a chance to perform together one final time. “I’m really glad we did it, ’cause it was a final thing for everybody,” he explained. “And I think if we hadn’t done it, people couldn’t have seen the band and Ozzy. It would’ve been a shame. But they’ve got a chance to see us all and see Ozz for the last time in that situation.”
Asked how he will remember Ozzy, Tony said: “God, we go back so many years. I knew Ozzy before everybody, ’cause we went to the same school. He was always funny. Ozzy was Ozzy. There’s never gonna be another Ozzy. He’s the only one — [there was] one Ozzy and that’s it. [And he’s] just a special person, just the way he is. He says what he thinks. Many times we said to him, ‘Now, don’t get saying anything.’ And, of course, he does. But it was funny. It really was funny. He did do some funny antics. And we did have a laugh on stage. As much as we were serious about the music, we’d always have this thing, and Ozz would always come over to me and pull faces. Of course, the audience couldn’t see that, and he’d be pulling all these funny faces, and I’d just crack up. Then he’d go over to Geezer and do the same. He was just that sort of person. He was a showman.”
As for Ozzy‘s contribution to the world of music, Tony said: “He had a special way, and that was it. There’s not another Ozzy. And his antics and everything — we never knew what he was gonna do in all the years we’ve known him. So it was all a bit of a thing, ‘I wonder what he’s gonna do now.'”
Ozzy died Tuesday morning (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.
At the “Back To The Beginning” concert, Ozzy and the rest of BLACK SABBATH 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.
