THE last time I saw Ozzy Osbourne up close at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, he choked up as he admitted his devoted wife Sharon had “saved his life”.
And friends tell me Sharon was by his side until the very end, when Ozzy passed away peacefully at their home in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday morning.
Jack, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne ahead of Ozzy’s farewell show on July 10[/caption]
Ozzy choked up as he admitted his devoted wife Sharon had ‘saved his life’ (pictured together in 1987)[/caption]
By good fortune, their children had spent precious time with Ozzy in his final weeks – after coming to Birmingham to celebrate his triumphant final performance with Black Sabbath on July 5.
Friends say Sharon had gone to great lengths to adapt their home to Ozzy’s needs prior to his passing – ensuring his beloved Bucks home was a place of peace and sanctuary for him.
It was there, they explain, that Ozzy underwent gruelling physiotherapy which helped him give the performance of a lifetime.
And it was there that Ozzy said his final farewell.
“Ozzy’s family were with him to the end,” a friend says.
“For a man whose life was the definition of chaotic, his final days in this world were incredibly peaceful.
“Sharon barely left his side. Kelly, Jack and Aimee also spent time with him. It was a very special time.
“Ozzy and Sharon had marked their 63rd wedding anniversary the day before his show in Birmingham and when they returned home Ozzy sadly went downhill.
“He had been unwell with his Parkinson’s and that huge final show took its toll.
“No one foresaw how quickly he passed away. But although it was a shock, there is gratitude that they could all be together.”
Another friend added: “Ozzy was immensely proud of being able to put on that show and perform.
“To be up in front of his fans performing was what drove him.
“He said it himself on stage, ‘This is the best thing I have ever done.’
“Those words couldn’t have been more true.”
I was lucky enough to be among the 40,000 fans – and the 5.8million who tuned in live – to watch Ozzy take his final bow.
Admittedly I was astonished at the form he was in.
Just seven months before Back To The Beginning, I was flown out to Cleveland, Ohio, to watch Ozzy being inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame for the second time.
It was clear to me then he was struggling, with Ozzy sadly unable to perform at the Rocket Mortgage Field House arena despite his best efforts.
We had been scheduled to meet backstage for a quick interview and to celebrate the incredible honour.
But I wasn’t surprised, not upset, when I was told not long before we were due to meet that Ozzy would be unable to speak to me.
Seeing him on stage, clearly not feeling his best, was difficult to witness.
But Ozzy made light of the pain he was in, paying tribute to his wife Sharon and enjoying the incredible musical tributes, with Jack Black hailing him as “the greatest frontman in rock n roll history.”
Speaking to the audience, Ozzy jokes: “You know what, I can’t believe I am here myself.”
Sharon, as ever, was by his side and backstage helped tend to his every need.
I was last with Sharon two years ago and we spoke at length, off the record, about Ozzy and how he was faring.
His health, which has been well reported on, was not the best and Sharon spoke candidly about her concerns for him.
She broke down as she told me he had been “plagued medically” and touched my arm as she told me, “I think, ‘No more, please, God.”
Once the interview was finished we hugged and I told her she was an amazing woman.
Sharon wiped away tears as we spoke about Ozzy[/caption]
Ozzy paid her devotion back in spades as he grew older[/caption]
Sharon wiped away tears as we spoke about Ozzy.
It was clear she worried about him regularly and would move heaven and earth to keep him on this earth.
Her devotion to the man she married back in 1982 never faltered.
Sharon was steadfast in her support of Ozzy.
Yes he could be outrageous and outspoken, and I don’t doubt he wasn’t downright annoying at times, but Ozzy was the man Sharon loved with all of her heart.
Ozzy as he grew older paid her devotion back in spades and friends said the pair had spoken about how they would spend their final years together at their home in Buckinghamshire.
And it certainly didn’t involved him putting his feet up.
“Ozzy was always like, ‘This is not the f***ing end..I have got stuff to do,’” a friend tells me.
“He liked being busy and he liked projects.
“He had found chatting to a ghost writer about his last two decades for his book Last Rites therapeutic and fun and he was looking forward to promoting it.
“Ozzy was also talking about going back into the studio and recording new material.
“Retirement was never an option for him. He used to recall his dad John retiring after dedicating his life to ‘the electric company’ as he called it.
“Ozzy would say all his dad told the family about was doing some gardening.
“Well Ozzy said that he went out and dug up the garden for a few days and then dropped dead – just like that.
“Ozzy felt that as hard as his workload was, John kind of had that purpose of going to work to provide for his family and have a role – and when it was absent it kind of left him lost.
“Ozzy made it clear many many times that he did not want to have a path.
Kelly, Ozzy, Sharon and Jack Osbourne at the GRAMMY Awards in 2014[/caption]
Ozzy and Sharon with kids Aimee, Kelly and Jack in 1987[/caption]
“He never wanted to simply retire and stop making music or feeling the love from live audiences.”
Heading to Birmingham on July 5 to see Black Sabbath again, I spoke to the organisers of the event about Ozzy’s health and how he was doing.
Remembering how he was back in October, I admitted I was concerned about how he would be able to cope with getting up on stage to perform.
Just minutes before he took to the stage, I messaged someone close to him who I knew had been backstage with Ozzy and his family all day and asked if he would be singing.
I talked to other journalists around him, and we remarked on whether Black Sabbath fans would be shocked by how frail he had become.
Seconds after he appeared through the floor of the stage at Villa Park, we were eating our words.
Ozzy was brimming with life and his speech, which had been more laboured when I saw him in Cleveland, was clearer than ever.
It was the most astonishing turnaround I have witnessed in a long time.
I know from those close to Ozzy he had worked tirelessly with a physiotherapist to prepare for the shows – which would not doubt have been painful and tiring.
But the effort he put in for his fans more than paid off.
His voice was remarkable given his health and he was in the highest of spirits, laughing as he blasted fans with a water cannon.
“It’s so good to be on this f***ing stage,” Ozzy said during his first performance – which saw him giving the most emotional version of Mama, I’m Coming Home, that I’ve ever seen.
Ozzy continued: “I’ve been laid up for six years. You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
I got shivers as 40,000 people chanted his name, which left Ozzy looking close to tears.
As his set finished, he took a mere 25 minute break before returning with his Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler to play War Pigs, N.I.B., Iron Man and Paranoid.
Fireworks went off as the show finished and I left on an absolute high, blasting Sabbath songs in the car as I drove home.
The couple pictured together in 2015[/caption]
The following day I wrote a special edition of Bizarre dedication to Ozzy and his homecoming – which has gone down in history.
In the days that followed, those close to Ozzy sent me excited messages about what he was planning next.
One friend told me: “That audience reaction was always his super power.
“He loved fans responding to him at Villa Park and for so many years even cheering him on in the street, simply for his fame as a reality star.
“Ozzy hated the thought of just withering away and stopping altogether.”
Yesterday afternoon when I first got the call about Ozzy’s death, my initial reaction was shock.
How could the man I watched on stage looking so alive just over two weeks ago have passed away?
It was a few hours later that I got the call from his representative to say that it was true and that Ozzy had sadly passed away.
We agreed that the next time we met we would raise a toast to this brilliant man.
Over the coming days and weeks, Ozzy’s legacy not only to music, but to charity, will become even more apparent.
This was a Birmingham born boy, who did far more than just good.
Ozzy was the pioneer of heavy metal and was one of the most famous men in the world.
But he never forgot where he came from – hence why the £140 million he raised from his Back To The Beginning concert will be distributed between Birmingham’s Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Cure Parkinson’s.
There will never be another man, or musician, like him.
There is only one Ozzy Osbourne.
