In a moving new interview with Waste Some Time with Jason Green, Zakk Wylde opened up about the devastating moment he learned that Ozzy Osbourne had passed away. Wylde, who served as Ozzy’s longtime guitarist, reflected on the metal icon’s resilience, passion, and seemingly unbreakable spirit.
“It Was So Crazy”
Wylde recalled the moment he got the call while on tour with Pantera:
“It was so crazy, ’cause when we went back to the house — obviously we went home [in early July after the ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert], and then Barb [Zakk’s wife Barbaranne] called me up [when I was on the road with Pantera to tell me] that Ozz passed away,” Wylde said.
Despite Ozzy’s well-known health issues, Wylde — like many fans — never truly believed it would be the end.
“Whenever any of this stuff [about Ozzy’s health issues] would always come up with us [in the past], just ’cause Ozz was just so tough and resilient, it would just be, ‘Oh, it’s just another bump in the road or another hurdle. We’ll get through it.'”
Ozzy the Survivor
Wylde likened Ozzy’s toughness to that of legendary stuntman Evel Knievel.
“So you just always — not that you take anything for granted ever, but it’d be like Ozzy being Evel Knievel — it’s, like, he survives, he makes a jump, or even if he gets into an accident, we get him to the hospital, [and] he’ll be fine. And then he gets out and he’s all right, and then we’ll do another jump. You know what I mean?”
That unwavering belief in Osbourne’s survival became second nature to those around him.
“So you never think, like, ‘This is the end.’ You’re just, like, ‘Ah, Ozz will be fine.’ Then we’ll either do another record or whatever until Ozz gets better.”
A Final Show to Remember
Wylde reflected on Osbourne’s final performance at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, believing Ozzy willed himself to complete that show.
“But truly it was just like he willed himself to hang in there long enough to knock that [final] show [at the Villa Park in Birmingham, England] out.”
“’Cause I was just saying, like, what happens if the show was [scheduled to take place] this month [in August]? He doesn’t make it. That’s what’s crazy about the whole thing. And you just always had that sense that he’s gonna be around forever, just kind of like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and all the guys.”
No Quit in Ozzy
When host Jason Green mentioned how Osbourne’s health struggles never stopped him from making music, Wylde agreed wholeheartedly.
“Obviously until he get his health back, it was just, like, ‘Ah, just keep plugging away, man.’ And either you quit or you keep conquering and climbing. And he never had any quit in them.”
He added that he always assumed Ozzy would recover and get back to work:
“So, yeah, it was just, like, all right, well, then in the meantime, until you can get better, well, we’ll write and make records or whatever you wanna do, man. I mean, that’s what I just figured. It was, like, ‘Ah, I’ll see Ozz on Tuesday,’ and we’ll start working again or whatever.”
A Legacy That Lives Forever
Zakk Wylde’s emotional tribute paints a vivid picture of a man who lived and breathed music — a relentless force who refused to be stopped, even in his final days.
His words serve as a reminder that Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t just a metal icon — he was a fighter, an innovator, and, above all, irreplaceable.
