Ozzy Osbourne on Final Concert: "It Didn't Feel Like a Funeral"

""It didn't feel like a funeral. It felt like a celebration.""

""Well ... I made it," wrote Ozzy. "Back to England. Back to Birmingham. Back to the beginning, as my final gig was called. For a while I was convinced my last trip home would be in a pine f***ing box.""

""Three days after we finally got to England I was back in hospital. My blood pressure kept me there for eight days, during which I had nothing to do but worry. Because the show kept getting bigger. As all these huge names were announced - Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith - I was like, holy f***, it's gonna be like metal's answer to Live Aid. Lying in bed at night I'd be like, I can't go, I can't do this. I kept saying to Sharon, we'd better get a video made 'cos there'll be an empty stage. She just looked at me like I was mad. She knows me better than I do. She knew I was just scared.""

Ozzy Osbourne completed the final entries of his memoir Last Rites before dying on July 22. He reflected on his July 5 final concert, "Back to the Beginning," saying it felt like a celebration rather than a funeral. He performed at Villa Park in Birmingham alongside major acts and died 17 days later at home in Buckinghamshire. He referenced impending death and recounted years of health struggles. He experienced a hospital stay for high blood pressure shortly after returning to England, which left him anxious as the concert grew into a star‑studded event and fearing he might be unable to perform.

Read at Consequence