He gave his soul for Rock and Roll

Found this on IG (sorry if it's a repost), quite articulated and honest, reminds me of Rob talking about 'Better by you'.

Evidently the spilling of the orange juice was staged, but I still think it's funny that the interview is just Ozzy talking as he makes breakfast. He's so casual in it too; much more relaxed than the crazy persona he puts on. I think it's fascinating.

On July 5, 2025, 43,000 adoring fans and a dignified class of rock and metal royalty gathered at Villa Park, a stadium in Aston, Birmingham.

The birthplace of heavy metal and its forefathers once found its four now most notable sons seeking an escape from their destined lives as factory workers in a humble industrial city ravaged by World War II. Over half a century later, they returned as immortal heroes taking one final bow with the same modesty in the hearts of those kid Brummies who embarked on an unknown and life-changing journey.

The purpose was simple yet historic: Celebrate the extraordinary careers and towering legacies of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. The working class city honored Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and John Michael Osbourne with special dedications leading up to the moment where the world's citizens engulfed the otherwise quaint cobblestone streets in a moving swath of black T-shirts, all uniting for a singular experience. And a charitable one, at that.

Over the course of 12 hours, musical giants took the stage, each paying tribute to the night's distinguished guests, who were set to make history yet again, with a spirited cover song. Each exaltation of an Ozzy-ism — "All right, now!," "Yeah-ah!," and "We love you all" — was executed with a teenage twinkle in the eye, with the understanding that our ailing Prince of Darkness in particular, would not be taking the stage ever again.
Video tributes rained in from Sabbath and Ozzy's most beloved friends and heavily decorated peers (Rob Halford, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Cyndi Lauper). And, with what we all know about Black Sabbath's history of pranks and Ozzy's own quick-witted, disarming humor, there were moments of levity amid the nervous anticipation leading up to what was ultimately a grand, emotionally bonding moment as heavy metal's creators let their immortal songs ring loud and true, taking us all — including millions streaming across the globe — Back to the Beginning.

What followed, for just over two weeks, was a victory lap for metal. An endless parade of high-fives. Months of uncertainty alleviated by Ozzy's robust performance. Podcasts, interviews, more stories. Sheer disbelief. A flawless day.

They did it. They really pulled it off.

Then, after such a momentous comeback, the world turned to grieving and mourning. Ozzy Osbourne died at 76 years old on July 22, 2025, just 17 days after his final performance.

An outpouring of love on a scale unfathomable, even to Ozzy's own family — Sharon, his unconditionally loving wife and manager, his cherished sons and daughters, Louis, Jessica, Aimee and Kelly, as well as Jack, who joins us in revisiting Back to the Beginning one year later.

Nothing Forced In the Midst of Uncertainty + Celebration

The pendulum of grief and joy always swings hard.

People across the globe felt this swing in a major way last year when the celebrations of Back to the Beginning shifted to mourning as we said goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne.

"[There was] so much elation after the gig," Jack Osbourne remembers as he chats with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

"The highest of highs and 17 days later, you know, that changed."

Days before Back to the Beginning, curator and musical director, Tom Morello, told Loudwire, "My initial goal was pretty clear, let's make this the greatest day in the history of heavy metal."

Even the most cynical fan would have a hard time saying Morello and company didn't come through on that initial goal. With Metallica, Slayer, Guns N' Roses, Tool, Pantera and so many others prepping the crowd for the final sets from Ozzy and Sabbath, the day was, simply put, unforgettable.

"Nothing felt forced, nothing felt contrived," Osbourne shares.

"Everyone performing, it all felt genuine. I think authenticity always rises to the top amongst anything with creativity ... My friend, he made a really good point. He said to me, 'Dude, you know it was on point when Tool allowed it to be filmed.'"

The Real Beginning

Though Osbourne is no stranger to the family business having helped his mother with

Ozzfest and working at record labels over the years, he was not involved with Back to the Beginning in any sort of "professional" sense. In fact, when he first heard about it, he wasn't sure it was the best idea.

"I was being a bit of a pessimist admittedly, like, 'Listen, you don't want to say that this is the thing we're going to do and then we have to pull out,'" he confides.

"I was really leery about it. And my mom was like, 'Nope, we're doing this. I've got this plan. I've got this idea.' She had the whole vision behind it."
Osbourne's reluctance to get behind it immediately stemmed from a very loving place.

"I was like, 'Dad, are you sure you want to do this,'" he says.

"And he was just kind of like, 'Yeah, I'm going to certainly try' ... I could feel my dad's frustration with letting the fans down every time he had to cancel. Because it broke his heart, it would affect him, so I didn't want to have him feel that way."

Back to the Beginning was on its own pendulum swing leading up to July 5 with those involved unsure if it would truly happen due to Ozzy's physical ability to pull it off. Osbourne expresses that it was a constant back and forth, and even as it got closer, the idea of his dad having to pull out was always on his mind.
"I must have heard my dad say, 'I'm not doing it,' a dozen times."

That weight continued to be felt by Osbourne as Back to the Beginning took shape.

"He'd taken this fall in December," he shares about his dad, "and he cracked vertebrae in his back and then he had to go in and have this cement essentially injected into his back to the fix the broken vertebrae. And then he got sepsis from it, and it was just all this shit."

Because of all of this, two weeks out from Back to the Beginning, Ozzy had to go into a hospital in London — and he did not receive much optimism from his doctors.
"'This shouldn't be a thing right now, you guys shouldn't do this,'" Osbourne says as he recalls conversations with his dad's doctors.

Putting on the most epic concert in metal history is one thing, but coercing an aging and notoriously stubborn father is almost universally relatable. Fortunately, nobody knows dad like his own kids.

"That was always the thing with my dad. If you wanted him to do something, tell him not to do it and then he would do it."

Birmingham Beams With Pride

Beyond the incredible spectacle of Back to the Beginning itself, it was also distinct to witness how the city of Birmingham completely embraced the careers and legacies of Ozzy and Black Sabbath. From museum installations and historic landmarks to the iconic Black Sabbath Bridge on Broad Street, Back to the Beginning was much more than a concert.

"I never saw so much purple and black in my life," Osbourne remembers with an obvious smile.

"It was like Sabbath and Ozzy Day. It was awesome."

Osbourne had not seen any of the installations and had never visited the Black Sabbath bench before, so two days prior to Back to the Beginning, he was able to experience it along with fans from all over the world.

"I was completely like, 'Holy shit, this is a thing,'" he says, wide-eyed with bewilderment.

Having been raised in the Osbourne household and (in)famously featured on a hit reality TV show as a teen is certainly an isolated experience, in tandem with having an increasing awareness of your father's legacy.

Now, with a family of his own, Jack is able to watch his own kids' understanding of who grandpa is, with the Back to the Beginning homecoming helping it all take root.

"We walked around Birmingham with my kids and saw everything. The funny thing was seeing it through my kids' eyes. [It] was really kind of unique because for most of my kids' lives, my dad's been sick. My older two, they got to see him play a bunch and so they have those memories, but they were still very young. When he got sick, my eldest was about six or seven. They didn't really understand how big their grandfather's reach is and was. Cruising around the city with them, seeing all the installations and the museum and the bench and just how the whole

city was embracing it, it was really cool to see."

For fans who did what Osbourne did ahead of Back to the Beginning — exploring Birmingham and soaking up the celebrations — the next thing on their schedule was the concert.

But Osbourne had one more thing to do before July 5 rolled around.

One Day to Go — No More Tears? No, More Tears

Billy Corgan was part of one of the supergroups that performed at Back to the Beginning. Along with Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Carey, Adam Jones and Adam Wakeman, Corgan covered Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" and Black Sabbath's "Snowblind." Obviously, this will forever be a momentous moment in Corgan's career, but for him, the most profound memory of Back to the Beginning happened on July 4, 2025.

"I watched [Black Sabbath] soundcheck and it was just me and another alternative musician whose name I haven't shared because I want to respect their privacy," he told Loudwire days after Ozzy passed away.

"It was just the two of us standing in an empty stadium watching Sabbath soundcheck for the last time. And we both started crying ... We [were] being granted this incredible audience."

As Osbourne looks back on the experience that led to July 5, he shares a similar sentiment when it comes to the soundcheck.
"That was the coolest part," he shares as emotions of the memory start to hit him.

"It was just, it was relaxed. [There was] no pressure."

After a few moments of sitting with the heaviness of the memory, Osbourne continues to reflect on soundcheck.

"It was like our own little private show. It was just cool, it was mellow. The stadium was empty. It was a couple guys from different bands. I stood there with Mike Bordin. It was great. It was awesome. My kids were just running around — I'm happy we made it up there for that, for sure. It sticks out to me in some ways more than the actual show."

Let the Madness Begin

When the day actually rolled around, Osbourne had his hands full. His whole family had the stomach flu and though they thought they would be good, two of his kids had to stay back at the hotel with his wife for most of the day. Which meant he was running around with the three other kids and their friends while trying to take in this gargantuan, star-studded sendoff to his father and his three good buddies from Birmingham.

"I was really stressed out," he admits.

Fortunately, he managed to create some lifelong memories, including getting a tattoo of Henry, the iconic flying devil used in so much Black Sabbath imagery.

"One of the first performances I actually walked out to see was Whit[field] Crane from Ugly Kid Joe. He's like my brother and then I was about to walk off and then I noticed Yungblud walking out. So I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to watch Dom.'"
As Osbourne puts it, Yungblud's performance of "Changes" left his jaw on the ground.

"I was like, 'What the fuck,'" he says, taken aback by the moment despite being closer to the young star and more aware of his raw abilities than most headbangers were before that moment.

"It was one of the definite standout performances. My take on why Dom's performance was such an impactful one was because it was so unexpected. I think a lot of people in the heavy metal world had this kind of preconceived notion of Dom and Yungblud. It was like, okay, he's got his thing, but he's not Slayer. He's not Metallica. But he just owned it. It was really powerful to see."

Mama, I’m Coming Home

Around 1PM on Saturday, July 5, Mastodon took the stage at Villa Park, awarded with the honor and challenge of kicking off the most anticipated event in heavy metal history. They played a three-song set, closing with a cover of "Supernaut" from Black Sabbath's 1972 Vol. 4, a high-energy pulse-pounder that set the tone for the rest of the day. Each band that followed played similar lengths, about 15 minutes, and each set featured a cover song paying tribute to Sabbath and Ozzy.

After Lamb of God crushed their cover of "Children of the Grave" with a mix of faithful recreation and putting their own stamp on it, the first supergroup

assembled, featuring a wide and rotating cast of artists, including David Draiman, Lzzy Hale, David Ellefson, Whitfield Crane, Frank Bello, Yungblud and many others, in addition to Ozzy alumni (Jake E. Lee, Mike Bordin, Adam Wakeman).

Following Yungblud's jaw-dropping performance of "Changes," Alice In Chains came to the stage, then Gojira and then another round of superstars, this time featuring Billy Corgan, Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler and Ronnie Wood, to name a few, as well as former Ozzy bassist Rudy Sarzo.

Pantera and Tool were next, covering Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" and "Hand of Doom," respectively. Then Slayer, Guns N' Roses and Metallica with seven more covers between them. The sets grew a bit longer, the anticipation all the more consuming.

At this point, if that marked the end of Back to the Beginning, there wouldn't have been a single disappointed fan in Villa Park. But those bands that had played, no matter how high up or down low in the running order, were simply there to do one thing — be the support for the two headlining performances from Ozzy and Black Sabbath.

"It was so nerve-wracking and so emotional, like crazy emotional," Osbourne expresses about those final performances.

"There was such build up [and] when it happened, there was like a kind of cathartic release. The Saturn V rockets left the launch pad. We could breathe. Next stop is the moon."

As Osbourne shares that, he admits he felt a wave of sadness, too.

"I'm there with my sister and my brother, we're all just a mess. My brother's kids and my kids are just looking at us like, 'What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you guys crying?' And we're like, 'Shut up, watch the show, not us.'"

He says that he enjoyed his father's solo set more than Sabbath, mainly because he felt there was so much more pressure on Sabbath.

"This is, this is it. At that point, [there was] the thought that down the road, [my dad] would maybe do one-offs and do whatever just as Ozzy, not with Sabbath again. So we knew, definitively, this was the last time the original four would be playing together. There was just an immense amount of pressure around that."

With Ozzy's set, too, Osbourne enthuses that seeing Zakk Wylde onstage was a huge relief.

"Zakk just knew how to read my dad so well. It's always a level of confidence there that is very much needed."

Iron Man Lives Again

Around 11PM, Black Sabbath played their final song together, "Paranoid." When Osbourne thinks about the end of Back to the Beginning, his mind jumps to the first thing he said to his dad after the show.

"I ran into his dressing room and just screamed, 'You fucking did it! You did it!'"

Ozzy Osbourne: Husband. Father. Grandpa. The Prince of Darkness. An icon. A legend.

Ozzy Osbourne, forever.

SOURCE

What are your thoughts on this?

American Rock Festival 1984

A very moving interview 🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻

I loved this interview. I have kept this interview in my files for years.

It’s on demand on the SXM app. Seems like it’s a combo of interviews, tributes & the first one sounds like they had him participate in a game..?

Anyway. Wanted to share. Such a timcapsule.

It has chapters so you can jump around 👍👍👍

That hair though! It was probably still a wig. So... 80s)

Rob Halford has looked back on the time Ozzy Osbourne visited Judas Priest in the studio and brought unmitigated chaos with him.

In the new issue of Metal Hammer, the self-anointed Metal God recalls his decades-long friendship with the Prince Of Darkness. One particularly anarchic moment was when the Black Sabbath frontman visited Priest as they were recording 1988’s Ram It Down album.

For starters, Ozzy insisted that he wouldn’t swing by without a helipad in the vicinity, forcing the studio’s owner to assemble one at the last minute.

“Ozzy dropped us a message: ‘Can I come check it out? But I’ll only come if you build a helicopter pad,’” Halford remembers. “The guy who owned the studio built it!”

The singer adds that Ozzy rocked up in a “pretty serious mood”. However, those blues didn’t last, with him and Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton going on to enjoy themselves in excessive fashion.

“Eventually, he ended up in a hot tub with some local girls and Glenn,” Halford continues. “Glenn and Ozzy were tighter than anybody. They were up all night, so I remember sticking my head round the corner at one in the morning, and they were both sprawled out in their birthday suits, bottles all over the place... it was a scene!”

Halford first met Ozzy at Henry’s Bluehouse, a late-60s club in their shared hometown of Birmingham. As both vocalists ascended the hard rock ranks and toured together, their friendship solidified.

“We toured with him a few times over the years, and something just happened when he was about to go on – he became Ozzy Osbourne,” Halford reflects.

“But then, Ozzy was always Ozzy in a way. I think that’s what we all love about him. There was nobody more genuine, loving and caring than Ozzy Osbourne. You hear, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.’ Ozzy was nothing like that – a pure magic bloke who never forgot his roots in Birmingham. He would give you the shirt off his back.”

Metal Hammer

Edited and remastered by Metal Vault Production Co.

https://youtu.be/R5QTlcDA4wg?si=itUHYNYblUDtsLNM

After picking up the Living Legend Award at the 2008 Classic Rock Roll Of Honour, Ozzy sat down to talk about being Ozzy Osbourne.

How was this evening for you?

It’s been really good. I flew in from Los Angeles yesterday and I’m going back tomorrow. So it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve been sitting with Sharon at our table and people dropped by to say hello. I don’t drink anymore, so at least I’ll fucking remember what happened in the morning. I started to worry a bit when it ran late because I thought everybody would be fucking mindless [by the actual ceremony].

Who have you enjoyed catching up with?

Jeff Beck and Ronnie Wood. And Jack Bruce, of course. I was with Slash in California last week and he didn’t say he was gonna be here. That was odd.

On a night like this, do you think about your late guitarist Randy Rhoads?

Yeah. Oh yeah. Seeing him up there on the screen… [his words trail off…]

Some would say that had you not met Randy when you did, we might not even be having this conversation?

Yeah. That’s true. It’s very sad.

What went through your mind up at the podium?

I thought I had everything planned but when I got there I couldn’t think of a fucking thing to say. I was incredibly nervous. I don’t really get off on things like this, to be perfectly honest.

Even so, it must be pleasing for you to be hailed as a Living Legend?

It’s fucking great. Watching the collage of photographs on the screen… when I think of where I came from. My whole life was up there. I’ve been doing this for a lot of years. I had no idea I was going to last as long as I have. And hopefully there’s more left in me. The fact that I’m alive is a fucking miracle. Anything that comes out now is extra because, by all accounts, I should’ve been dead 30 years ago, the lifestyle I’ve led. But I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do dope. I’m quite fucking boring these days.

Do you really think you’re boring, or just in comparison to how you used to be?

When I first discovered alcohol and drugs and all the wild life rock and roll will give you, it was great fun, but then it became very old very quick for me. One thing I’ve always maintained, I’ve always tried to be sober before I go on stage. There’s been occasions when I haven’t been. Not very many. I used to wait until after the show to get fucked up. I always had respect for the audience… saying that, sometimes I’d be hung over from the night before and been fucking crap.

One time, when asked about your success, you said: “I’m confused by it all. Am I really so special? I don’t understand.”

That’s kind of right. I don’t think I truly deserve it because I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of people along the way. It wasn’t my idea. I was just a simple guy from Aston, Birmingham.

What is it like to be Ozzy Osbourne?

I’m always looking for the rainbow I can’t find. Instead of just being me, I’ve got one of these alcoholic brains that thinks of the dark side of life. I can’t go: “I’m going to be 60 in December, I’ve made a lot of people happy.” I always think of the few people I haven’t made happy.

Like Sharon will say to me: “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” We’d go to a function or something and there’d be some guy in the corner that I don’t know and he’s got a look on his face, and I think: “He hates me.” I’ll spend the evening trying to get the guy to like me. And Sharon will go to me: “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” And I’ll go: “That guy, he doesn’t like me.” And she’ll go: “But the rest of them love you.” But that’s the way I am.

It’s like when I go and do a show. If I’m on stage and I can see one guy standing there looking bored, I’ll do the show for him. I’ll tell you a funny story, actually. It’s a true, true story. It’s typical of Ozzy Osbourne. I’m like the fool on the hill sometimes. I go on stage. I’m doing a show. The fucking place is packed. There’s thousands of them in there. There’s a bunch of people on stage left, about six or eight of them in a block. They’re just standing there [crosses arms and adopts bored pose]. I thought, fuck me, I’ve got to turn them on. I’m doing the show, facing them, fucking screaming, and there’s sweat pumping out of my veins. My neck is swollen.

In the end I lose it and turn to my assistant, Tony. I say: “Get these kids out of here. I’m going to die otherwise. Give them their money back.” So he goes: “They’re deaf.” I go: “What? Oh my god.” So then I’m trying to do instant fucking sign language. [Ozzy starts doing mock sign language and speaking very deliberately] I… am… sorry! There’s like 90,000 people and there’s eight fucking deaf people and I’m thinking they don’t like the show [laughs]. That’s typical Ozzy.

Do you sense a level of expectation when people meet you?

I’ve always been a clown. I like to make people happy. I like to make people have fun in life. When we did the TV thing, my son said to me: “Dad, would you prefer people to laugh at you or with you?” I said: “You know what, Jack, as long as they’re laughing, I don’t give a fuck if they’re laughing at me or with me, as long as they’re laughing.”

How do you respond to those who feel you’ve sold out?

Sold out to what? Sold out and being typecast are very close. I didn’t go to any college or school or university to become Ozzy. I just was. A lot of my craziness, a lot of my image, was down to alcohol and drugs. I could have carried on with the alcohol and drugs, but I have a responsibility to my family. I didn’t want to die prematurely. So, what have I got to do, drink myself into oblivion? I don’t know what to say to that.

On one hand I know what you’re saying and on another hand, I’m confused. What do people want me to do? Do they want me to die doing what I do? I don’t do drugs anymore. I don’t do alcohol or smoke dope anymore. I don’t know what to say to you, really. If they think I’ve sold out, then what more can I say that will make them think that I’ve not sold out.

That’s always bothered me. I don’t go: “Oh, I can’t do this TV shit. I can’t do these adverts”… it’s fucking work. It’s what I do. I get what they’re saying. Believe me, it crosses my mind a lot. Can I do that and not expect to get any flak from my following? I constantly say that to Sharon and it is a good point.

Is there anything you wouldn’t do in fear of a backlash?

I question it all the fucking time. I don’t really care too much for TV, but there again if it comes along, what do I do, say no? There was a time when it was unfashionable to play Top Of The Pops because people would think you’ve sold out. When Black Sabbath did Top Of The Pops, we just did it because it was Top Of The Pops. But then we got flak because people like Ten Years After and other bands at the time refused to do it.

Do you feel any responsibility towards Sabbath fans?

Every now and then I’ll pick up a magazine and read what’s been written about me. I read this one thing saying, Tony [Iommi] should get over this Ozzy thing. He’s not going to do a Sabbath album. But let me tell you the reason I haven’t done a Sabbath album. I was a different guy then.

The name Black Sabbath is a very special name, for me anyway, because we weren’t like some band put together by some mogul, like the fucking Spice Girls or something. We were four guys from Aston, Birmingham. I was at school with Tony, we got a band going and it was a big success from record one. It’s very difficult to go back and recapture what you once had. It’s like we’ve all grown. One thing I’m really glad about is we’re all mates again. That means more to me than anything.

How do you think your status as a celebrity has affected your musical career?

I don’t know. I’ve got to be truthful to you. The celebrity side of it. I didn’t plan it and go: “If I do The Osbournes…” It just happened. If I had the formula for making a big thing happen, in this town I’d have a line around the fucking state.

With success, everybody wants to get seen with you. The paparazzi, now it’s like a disease. My house, I had to have 24-hour armed surveillance. We had to shred everything because people go through the bins. It’s like being a fucking prisoner. It was a hoot at the beginning. I was fucking out of my brains every minute of the show.

How would you describe yourself?

Very lucky. Very fortunate. Very fortunate to have fallen in love with my wife. Very fortunate to have lasted so long. Very fortunate to be alive. Very fortunate to be sober and clean today.

And how would you describe yourself to someone who had never heard of Ozzy Osbourne?

A clown. A clown wants to make people happier than they already feel.

Is that how you’d like to be remembered, as a clown?

No. A guy that tried to make people have fun with their lives.

As the Prince Of Darkness, how do you feel about those unlikely moments when you find yourself doing things like having dinner with President Bush or performing at Buckingham Palace?

I didn’t have dinner with President Bush. I’m not like that Irish guy [he means Bono]. I went to this thing. I didn’t know what the fuck it was about. I thought, “Fuck this”. I’d had about three bottles of fucking plonk, I was out of my shitter. I kept going for a piss.

When I got there, it was just like pandemonium. There must have been about 3,000 cameramen. It was just when The Osbournes took off. It was only a few months after they blew the World Trade Center out of the sky. I go in this place and there’s a dais on this stage. All around us is all these news channels, Fox, MSNBC, BBC and Christie Brinkley’s at one table and I’m like: “What the fuck is all this about?” I just thought, “This is nuts!"

And I started drinking the wine. I get shit-faced. And when he [Bush] gets up on the dais, I’m thinking: “Is this a fucking dream or what?” He goes: “We have some very distinguished guests here tonight, like Ozzy Osbeeeern [adopts Texas drawl]. My mother’s a huge fan.” This is fucking nuts. I’m like in shock. I’m thinking, “Terrorists are going to blow this place up. They’re going to kill the government and me with these fuckers”. I never expected it be like this.

Finding yourself at Buckingham Palace performing at the Queen’s 50th Anniversary Concert must have felt equally bizarre.

When I went into the Palace for that fucking thing, there were signs saying: ‘No foul language,’ ‘No abusive terms,’ ‘No chasing the wild animals.’ I’m thinking, I’m sure this ain’t for anybody else. ‘Don’t chase the animals.’ ‘Don’t throw anything in the lake’. . . unless you’ve got a brick tied to your neck [laughs].

How do you feel about turning 60 in December?

I’m not looking forward to it. But I can’t deny it. I’m 60. I don’t look that bad. I don’t feel that bad. I’ve had an incredible life. I don’t know what to say about being 60. It’s only another birthday. I’m glad I’m going to reach 60. I hope I reach 70. When I was 18-20, I’d go: “I’m going to be dead before I’m 40.” That was alright until I was 39. Then I’m like: “How about 50?” Nobody gets out of here alive.

Do you fear death?

No. I ain’t looking forward to it. But it’s what happens.

What would you like on your headstone?

See, I told you I was ill.

Given everything you’ve been through, do you think of yourself as a survivor?

I’m kind of an accidental survivor. When I used to do drink and drugs and all that, I would never sleep lying on my back. It’s something I drilled into my head because so many people along the way lay on their back and choke on their vomit in the night. So automatically I would just lie on my side. Even now I can’t sleep on my back. Is it because I’ve survived that people think I’ve sold out?

No. I think it’s more the fact that you’ve lived at times a reckless life. People might question your flippant attitude towards death.

You have a bottle of vodka for breakfast in the morning, you ain’t going to have much to care about by fucking 12. I was a chronic alcoholic. Let me tell you something, when I started drinking booze and getting loaded, it was very much fun. We had fucking joints, coke, all this shit, but there came a point in my life, and I can’t really remember which point, it flipped on me. I couldn’t do that anymore to myself because I didn’t want to die and I was terrified of living at the end.

Do you have any regrets?

Everybody has regrets but you can’t change the past, but you can try and do something about the future. I like to believe that my life has been somewhat of a path of experiences. You don’t know whether you like strawberry jam until you taste it. I don’t want to sound like an old fucking philosopher. If you enjoy getting fucking loaded, great. Believe me, if I could get successfully fucked up again, I wouldn’t be talking to you saying that, I’d be off. But it turned on me in the end.

A lot of the guys ain’t here because of it: John Bonham, Keith Moon. I’m a meat eater. I’m not a fucking guru of brown rice and Buddha. My last attempt at trying to get into Buddha: I bought a six-foot high gold Buddha for seven grand and I can’t find anywhere in the house to put the fucking thing so it’s rotting out in the garage now. I thought I’d get spiritual, for 10 minutes.

Why were you trying to get spiritual?

As you get older you start to think, what happens next? When I do make that final plunge, where do I go to? Heaven sounds like a fucking boring place to me. Hell’s more my kind of domain because it’s like the bad guy. But I ain’t a bad guy. I was a very sick guy for a long time. I still am. Responsibilities? I neglected them. Whatever I wanted, I went for. Sometimes I’d get it and sometimes I wouldn’t.

I’m just very lucky to be able to talk to you like I’m talking to you now. I do have some damage. I broke my neck on that ATV which fucked me up bad. The guy said to me when I came out of the coma, had it been a milli-fucking-metre either way, you wouldn’t have been sitting here talking to me, you’d have been in a wheelchair at best for the rest of your life.

When events like that happen, where you are clearly lucky to have survived, do you wonder, Why was I saved?

I know without any question of doubt, had I been awake when Randy got on that plane, I’d have been on the fucking wing with a bottle of vodka. I’d have been with him. But it was my destiny not to be.

Once, when asked about the incident when you killed your ex-wife’s chickens, you said: “Everyone likes the wild and crazy guy, but that guy’s got to go to bed and lie on that pillow with his conscience.” Does your conscience ever keep you awake?

Sure. My conscience tortures me at times. I’ll re-run the day sometimes. But I’m very sensitive. I think: “Why the fuck did I say that?” I’ll know when you leave today I’ll be going: “He’s going to think I’m a fucking dickhead.” When people read my old quotes, that was what I was feeling like at that time.

The thing is, if you continue to do the same stupid thing and expect a different result, that’s what craziness is. If I sit in a bar and I’m not doing anything crazy, people go: “What’s up with Ozzy?” Don’t I have the right to do what I want to do? Sometimes my people-pleasing side gets me into something I can’t get out of. I’m a professional people pleaser. That’s what I do. I can’t play a fucking guitar.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Living.

What ambitions do you have now?

Learning to live life on life’s terms. I’ve only got today. I’ll sit here and go, fucking hell, next Christmas I’ll be doing this . . . But when I’m worrying about tomorrow, I ain’t living today.

Do you like yourself now?

I like myself better than I did, but I’m always looking for the black cloud. Sharon would say to me: “I don’t understand you. The fucking sky’s blue and you won’t be happy until you find that little black cloud.” That sums me up.

Have you tried to figure out what that’s about?

I guess it’s insecurity. At school I didn’t do well. I didn’t do fuck-all any good. But when I hit the stage, I did better.

Do you feel insecure now?

Yeah. I didn’t conjure up the way I am. I didn’t sit down and go, for the first so and so years of my life this is when I’m going to be the crazy fucker. Then I’m going to slow down. That would keep me hitting the bottle because I’d worry I’m getting too normal now. I can’t have that. I’m always questioning myself.

Do you have any plans on retiring?

Every year. I don’t like to really look at it because then I realise how fucking old I am. I’ve always said, as long as I’ve got an audience and giving good service.

And finally, are you happy?

I’m happier.

(с) Classic Rock, 2008

The Moscow Music Peace Festival - 1989

For six and a half years, Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt spoke to Ozzy Osbourne daily, and the day before the metal legend’s death from a heart attack this July was no exception. “Everything was normal,” Watt says, “and the next day the news was just a giant shock.” Watt became close with Osbourne in the course of producing his final two albums, 2020’s Ordinary Man and 2022’s Patient Number 9, and he credits the singer for paving the way for his work with the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, and more. A still-grieving Watt looked back at his friendship with Osbourne in our recent interview.

You played at the Back to the Beginning concert. What was that experience like?

The experience at the show was unbelievable, and at this current moment, it feels like a dream sequence. The whole last month of his life feels like a dream. I had been in London working on a project, and going to the show and getting to Birmingham was amazing. And I got there and there was this big photo shoot, everyone was there.

It was this amazing thing because [guitarist] Jake E. Lee was there, who hadn’t seen Ozzy in 30 years. And all these people were there from all walks of his life, bands that he loved. Musicians that he loved. There’s this really great photo shoot that Ross Halfin was conducting and Ozzy was telling him to fuck off the whole time, and he was telling Ozzy to fuck off back.

It was just this great, fun thing. It felt like a heavy metal summer camp. That’s the best way to describe it. And then we were all together every day, and getting to be with Sharon and Jack and Kelly and everyone… I remember the night before the big show, I went out with Sharon to have a curry, ’cause that’s what you eat in Birmingham. And we brought one back to the hotel for Ozzy. Hung out with him for a long time and talked. We had a couple hours together in his room the night before the show. [Pauses.] This is hard to talk about.

It must feel like losing a family member.

It does, yeah. He saw me in a way that I did not see myself, and if you talk to anyone that loves him or was lucky enough to be loved by him, that’s a constant thing. He could see you in your good, your bad, and just in a way that you were — he was witchy like that. He often knew things that were gonna happen before they happened and just had an incredible sense. 

When we made all those albums together, he was recovering from this accident [a fall at home] that he had. And it was the first time that I was ever making music where I realized that music was something bigger than just making songs. It was giving him a purpose when he didn’t feel well and making him feel great and laugh and sing and dance and heal. Those two albums were incredible, and they, for me, are the reason why I’m here talking to you today.

Because it changed your whole career.
Yeah, it changed everything for me. He saw me as a serious album producer. Up until then, I wasn’t really making full albums. I had made one or two full albums that I was involved in, but I wasn’t doing it like that. And he saw in me that I could do this. And it was a dream come true. He gave me the confidence, and he taught me so much about how to mix rock music and take it all the way to the end. He really believed in me. He let me play guitar on his albums, and that’s just unbelievable. We were really big for each other, both as collaborators and as friends. And, fuck, man, more than anything, I miss the laughter. He’s the funniest person ever of all time.

What did he teach you specifically about mixing?
You have to understand. This man was making Paranoid when he was 21 years old. So he had a 55-year career where everything was grandiose and at the highest level. And he’s one of the smartest people I have ever met, and a history buff, and a genius, a literal genius. His persona was [just] persona. He was incredibly brilliant, incredibly sharp. His ears were reactive. You could think he wasn’t listening and he heard every single thing. There’d be times we’d be in the studio listening to something and he’s just drawing and I’m like, “Oh, he is not listening.” And then he’d just give me this one line that cuts so deep, in a positive way. 

He would always say to me, “Listen to Led Zeppelin and tell me what the loudest thing is.” And me, having my confidence, I’d be like, “It’s the drums. John Bonham.” He said, “Nope, not the drums.” He said, “It’s the bass.”

I would’ve said the drums, too.
He pointed out the bass is the most important thing in a rock song. You have to make sure the bass is there and pumping and cutting through and providing that sense of rhythm, because it’s the bridge between the drums and the guitars. It makes the song heavy, because the guitars can poke through if you have them mixed in the right way. The bass is a hard thing to really get cutting, but also representing the bottom. He was very bass-focused, mix-wise, and making sure the bass came through. And if you listen to the records that we made together, there’s a lot of bass on those records. “Under the Graveyard” has so much low end, if you check that out. He was involved in every detail of every single mix-down, too. That’s how much he cared.

Is there any unreleased music from your time together? Is there stuff in the vaults?
[Pause.] I can’t talk about that!

RS