In a sad moment for his family and rock fans everywhere, Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osborne passed away at the age of 76, dying just weeks after joining his former Black Sabbath bandmates for one final farewell tour show. Osborne has been suffering from Parkinson’s for years, along with complications from a serious fall in 2019.
For reference, Ozzy’s final show came during a Villa Park event called Back To The Beginning. During it, the Parkinsons-suffering rocker many appeared on a black throne featuring jewelled skulls, though he was able to rise at one point and play a solo for the fans. He was also joined by his original Black Sabbath bandmates, withTerence “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward appearing alongside him for their first performance as a band in two decades.
During the performance, Ozzy, as he appeared on stage, got into the persona as best he could and cried out, “Let the madness begin.” He went on to tell the roaring crowd of tens of thousands of fans, “It’s so good to be on this stage.” He also said, “You’ve no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart.” The concert raised $190 million for charities benefiting for Parkinson’s research and children’s hospitals.
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar, commenting to Sky News on Ozzy’s final appearance, noted, “You know, there’s not another guy as respected in metal as Ozzy Osbourne.” He went on to add, “And for him to be sick and to be saying, I’m out, I’m done. Man. There’s no one else that can replace that.”
In any case, just weeks after that event, Ozzy passed away. His family, issuing a statement on Tuesday, July 22, said, “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.”
Commenters online praised Osborne for taking to the stage for that one last concert despite likely knowing he was on the verge of death from his Parkinson’s and fall injuries. One such commenter said, “Massive respect to ozzy Osborne playing a concert like he did probably knowing full well he was on deaths door. They don’t make em like they used [to]. RIP Ozzy🦇”
Similarly, another commenter made much the same pont about how cool it was for Osborne to have pushed through the pain in his final days to do one last concert in his English hometown, saying, “Ozzy Osborne performed a whole concert with Parkinsons disease days before his death in his hometown of Birmingham … Legend”
"*" indicates required fields
Many others noted how sad it is that a legendary rocker and inspiration for many people had passed away. One such commenter on that front chimed in by saying, “The f*cking prince of darkness… Father of heavy metal.. This celebrity death hits home more than anything. Ozzy Osborne has been a living legend for my entire life. Its been a while coming but it still doesn’t prepare you for losing a legend. F*cking badass to the very end!🖤🖤🖤”
Watch Ozzy at his last performance here: