Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., who joined Ozzy Osbourne‘s band more than a decade and a half ago, paid tribute to the legendary heavy metal singer by performing a cover of Ozzy‘s “Bark At The Moon” on Friday, August 1 at the Skogsröjet festival in Rejmyre, Sweden.
Prior to launching into the track, the FIREWIND leader, who was appearing at the event with former RAINBOW vocalist Ronnie Romero, told the crowd: ”We came into this festival here, and I found out an old friend of mine from FIREWIND is here as well today, and I wanted to bring him up here to jam a song, this next one, with us. Please welcome on stage, [former FIREWIND singer] Mr. Apollo [Papathanasio]. Come on, Apollo.
“We were gonna do this next one anyways,” he continued. “And today I think it matters even more because, as everybody knows, last week the whole world stopped because Ozzy Osbourne passed away. And I had the privilege and the honor to play with the man for about seven years, and that was some of the best times of my life. And the world is just not the same without Ozzy.
“Come on, let’s hear it, man. Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy.”
The day of Ozzy‘s passing, Gus, whose real name is Kostas Karamitroudis, took to his social media to write: “RIP @ozzyosbourne. Dear Ozzy – Thank you for everything you’ve done for me — the advice, the precious memories and for the music. You changed my life forever and I’ll never forget that. As a guitar player, it was the highest honor in my career to record an album and tour the world with you for 7 years. My condolences to the family”.
In a July 2024 interview with Romania’s Rock FM to promote his acoustic shows in the country with Romero, Gus spoke about how he looks back on his time with Ozzy. He said: “It was a big step up and a big challenge to go from one level to another as a performer, as a guitar player. I came from a background of having my own bands and kind of like always feeling secure in that, but getting a gig like that, for me, was a big challenge, obviously, and intimidating. So I had to step up my game very quickly. I had to dissect my own playing style and figure out what it is and try to improve it. It made me a better professional, so to say, better performer. I just one-upped everything that comes together with being not only a musician, but as an entertainer and performer. So it definitely, that gig helped me to bring out the stage persona a bit more to the front — because that stuff only exists on stage, in my opinion, not off stage. So it made me work hard on that and develop that. It was a great opportunity.”
Less than two years earlier, Gus told Czech Republic’s Backstage TV that he had some “really good times” playing with Ozzy. “It was a really highlight of my career, obviously, playing at such a big level and, of course, to play with one of the fathers of this music, heavy metal,” he said. “So, just to be a part of that legacy is incredible; it’s mindblowing. I still cannot believe it happened. I learned a lot.
“I’m not a guy who thinks so much about the past,” Gus explained. “I think I have evolved since then; I have become a better musician, better person, better performer. That was a big stepping stone for me. I look at those days with a lot of joy, and I have nice memories, nice feelings about Ozzy and Sharon [Ozzy‘s wife and manager] and the [rest of the] Osbournes; they treated me very nice. And it was some of the best years of my life with them; I got to see and experience things that not many musicians do, so I was lucky in that sense. But I’m doing my thing now and I’ve had my own thing for a long time. And I’m happy where I’m at in life right now.”
In 2021, Gus was asked by Guitar World how he found out he was no longer in Ozzy‘s group. “Sharon called me at home,” he said. “I was kind of expecting it. They had announced a festival, and I was waiting to hear back what was going to happen. And then eventually, she gave me a call. I think it was in the middle of the night, because we have such a time zone difference. She called me in Greece, and said, ‘I just wanted to let you know personally, so you don’t find out online, we’re going to do the farewell tour, and Zakk is coming back for that.’ And I was, like, ‘No worries at all. No problem.’ And I thanked her for everything they had done for me. We’re still on good terms, so, no problem at all.”
Back in 2018, Gus told TrueMetal.it that “it was a little bit of a relief” to find out that Ozzy was getting back together with his longtime axeman Zakk Wylde. “I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything about potential tours or recording activities,” Gus said. “Of course, [Ozzy] was very busy with BLACK SABBATH — I understand that — but then in between of all that, there would be all these one-off [solo Ozzy] shows popping up and I had to make myself available for that. But there was never any… I felt like there was no… I didn’t see stuff coming up for the future, you know? So, as much as I loved being in that band and working with him, in a way, it was a little bit of a dead end for me, speaking personally. Of course, now he’s gonna go on a big tour again and do his farewell thing, and that’s great for him, but it was not a creative thing for me.”
It was announced in April 2017 that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy‘s backing group for all his upcoming solo show dates.
Gus, who played on Ozzy‘s 2010 studio “Scream”, told TrueMetal.it that part of his frustration stemmed from the fact that he wasn’t told far in advance when his services would be needed by Ozzy, making it difficult for the guitarist to make long-term plans with any of his other projects. “There was never any definite announcement, like, ‘Hey, guys, we’re gonna see you next year’ or something; it was always, like, ‘We’ll see what happens,'” he said. “So that’s a bit of an uncertainty right there, and, of course, I had my own band [and] I had stuff to do, but I could never really book stuff too far ahead into the future just in case something [with Ozzy] came up. So it was really hard to get some info at some points… Anyways, you know, that’s how it is; that was the situation. So, yeah, in a way, like I said, it was a relief, because now I can totally control what I’m gonna be doing, and that’s a much nicer feeling.”
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.
