The world continues to mourn the loss of Ozzy Osbourne, and now, his longtime bandmate Tony Iommi has shared new details about the rock legend’s final days — including Ozzy’s last words to him, delivered quietly backstage after Black Sabbath’s farewell concert.
In an emotional new interview with ITV News, Iommi opened up about the moment he found out Ozzy had died on Tuesday, July 22, saying the news was a complete shock.
“Yeah, it was a shock for us,” Iommi said. “I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal.”
Despite Ozzy’s visibly declining health, Iommi said that he believes Ozzy held on long enough to complete Black Sabbath’s farewell performance, titled Back To The Beginning.
“He’s not looked well through the rehearsals. And I think he really just held out to do that show… we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”
After the show, Ozzy went to visit each of his bandmates. What followed was an intimate final moment that now echoes with profound meaning.
“He came around before he was leaving on a wheelchair,” Iommi recalled. “He came in to say goodbye and have a little chat for a bit. And he seemed all right. He enjoyed it. And he said, ‘Oh, it went all right, didn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it did.’”
Iommi also shared details of a text message he received from Ozzy just one day before his death, saying he was “tired” and had “no energy left.”
“It’s a lot for him to do that under the problems he’s got. We could see it in rehearsal,” Iommi said. “We didn’t want him there every day… he just wouldn’t be able to stand it.”
Rehearsals were tailored around Ozzy’s energy. He would sit down, sing a few songs, and share laughs with the band about “rubbish old times,” Iommi said. Those moments became their final memories together.
The Back To The Beginning show marked the official end of Black Sabbath, reuniting Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward onstage — the original lineup, together one last time after more than 20 years apart.
“The gig was for him [to say goodbye], really, and for us to say goodbye,” Iommi said. “It was the end of the band, and we’ll never do that again.”
As fans continue to celebrate Ozzy’s towering legacy, these final, human moments between two legends remind us that behind the persona of the Prince of Darkness was a man who simply wanted to say goodbye the right way.
