Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 17 days after performing at the Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham
Jack Osbourne, son of music legend Ozzy Osbourne, has described his father’s final concert as a “living wake”, where the star had the chance to bid farewell to everyone.
The iconic heavy metal singer reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the ‘Back to the Beginning’ gig on 5 July, just 17 days before he passed away at 76 from a reported heart attack.
Ozzy had been battling numerous health issues in the years leading up to his death, including a fall in February 2019, and Jack revealed that he knew this Birmingham benefit concert would be his father’s last performance.
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When asked about how his mother Sharon is holding up, Jack told US news show Good Morning America: “She’s okay but she’s not okay… I know she feels the love.”
Reflecting on the emotional farewell concert, he shared: “Before he (Ozzy) went on stage, I ran back into the dressing room, and I just gave him a big hug.
“I just kissed him. I just said, I was like, ‘Crush it. You’re going to do so good.’ And I was crying. I was in the crowd with… there was this area in the crowd and I was with my brother and we both were just crying.
“It wasn’t because of feeling sorry for him. It wasn’t because we were sad for him. I think it was because we knew it was the last time. In hindsight, it kind of was a living wake if you think about it. He got to say goodbye to everyone.”
A plethora of metal and rock artists performed at the concert, held at Villa Park, including Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Yungblud and Anthrax, with video messages from celebs such as Jack Black, Ricky Gervais and Dolly Parton.
The music legend, known as the Prince of Darkness, made his final entrance by ascending on his throne through a trap door.
Ozzy and his original Black Sabbath bandmates – Tony Iommi, Terence “Geezer” Butler and Bill Ward – were the last to grace the stage as part of the star-studded line-up.
Days following his passing, Ozzy’s family joined fans in bidding an emotional goodbye to the heavy metal icon during a procession in Birmingham that saw the hearse carrying his coffin pass the star’s childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston.
The BBC has since aired a documentary titled Sharon And Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, which chronicles the final three years of Ozzy’s life as he and Sharon plan a return to the UK.
Another documentary, Ozzy: No Escape From Now, premieres on Paramount+ on Tuesday and follows the music legend in the final years of his life, featuring clips from the farewell concert and his funeral.
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