Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne died last month, just over a fortnight after his final show, a move that echoed a heartbreaking family moment from his earlier days
Ozzy Osbourne declared it was “game over” following a family tragedy that came after his hesitation to step back from performing. The Black Sabbath legend died last month, weeks after his farewell performance.
Widely regarded as heavy metal trailblazers, Black Sabbath delivered their concluding concert at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5. The Prince of Darkness’s relatives confirmed his passing occurred just 17 days afterwards.
The musician’s unwillingness to step away from the spotlight seemed to mirror his father Jack’s experience, who grafted night shifts as a toolmaker, reports Birmingham Live. Jack retired in 1997 at 63, but passed away several months afterwards.
In his 2010 memoir, I Am Ozzy, the legend penned: “‘I’m going to have some time to do the garden now’, he’d told me. So he did the garden.
“But as soon as he’d done that garden, that was it. Game over.”
Ozzy, 76, initially declared his intention to bow out in 1992 at 43, following an incorrect multiple sclerosis diagnosis. The retirement nevertheless endured merely three years before he returned to the stage.
His No More Tours 2 trek was delayed due to Covid in 2020, though he dropped two additional albums, Ordinary Man in 2020 and Patient Number 9 in 2022.
Black Sabbath meanwhile staged at least two goodbye performances. The group ultimately completed their final tour in 2017 with their The End spectacle.
Despite reuniting for The Back to Beginning Show, according to Metal Hammer. Ozzy’s final performance witnessed him taking to the stage on a black gothic throne after years of rock ‘n’ roll, a Parkinson’s diagnosis, and a 2003 quad bike accident had taken their toll on his body.
Ozzy received his Parkinson’s diagnosis midway through his 2019 tour, initially dismissing the numbness in his legs as the consequence of drug use and binge drinking.
The band postponed the European leg of the tour to allow Ozzy to recover at home. However, catastrophe struck for Ozzy when he “stupidly” decided to attempt “diving into bed”.
The rockstar hadn’t switched his light on and believed he knew where his bed was. Instead, he found himself crashing onto the floor.
Ozzy, renowned for on-stage antics such as biting the head off a bat, says he was at his lowest point, “praying to die in his sleep” when Sharon suggested bringing back the original Sabbath line-up for a final gig. She later suggested they could rally around bands who had been inspired by Sabbath.
This saw some of the biggest names in rock music signing up to be part of the show. These included the likes of Guns ‘n’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer, Alice in Chains, and Van Halen.
Journalist Michael Hann described the homecoming concert as a “perfect goodbye” for a singer so iconic he was in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame twice – as a solo artist and with Sabbath. Sharing his thoughts on the performance, Michael wrote in The i Paper: “That it had to be his last show was clear. He was frail, sometimes seeming as if he wanted to pull himself upright but lacking the power to do so.
Source: Mirror
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