Ozzy Osbourne’s sisters Jean Powell and Gillian Hemming were blindsided by the news of his death after they had just reunited with him a few weeks prior at his final Black Sabbath concert.
“He was frail, but it still came as a shock,” Powell, 85, told The Mirror on Wednesday, July 23. “He still had plans and things he wanted to do.”
Osbourne died at 76 years old on Tuesday, July 22, his family announced in a statement shared with Us Weekly.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” the statement read. “He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
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Powell and Hemming, 80, said they received a phone call telling them about their brother’s death, but they don’t know the details because it’s “still too early.” However, Powell said she was “thankful he died in England.”
Osbourne is their third sibling to have died out of six after their other sister, Iris, and brother Tony passed away.
“Of the six siblings, there’s only three of us left now — me, Gillian and our brother Paul,” Powell said.
“To us, he was our brother, not a celebrity, so it’s crazy to see the outpouring of love since his death was announced,” Powell added. “We just can’t believe he is gone, and we won’t be getting another phone call or text from him. Every week, without fail, he would get in touch.”
Powell and Hemming were able to see Osbourne, whom they called by his real name, John, one last time at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, on July 5.
“I got a text from him as he drove down Lodge Road, where we used to live near the stadium,” Powell said. “He said he couldn’t believe all the crowds were walking down our old street to watch him perform. He was blown away.”
“It was upsetting because he could not stand up straight, but he was still our John, still cracking the jokes,” she continued. (Osbourne announced in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.)
Powell said she became emotional as she watched the stadium fill up for the concert.
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“We had an executive box in the stadium, and when I saw the sea of people waiting to see our John, I just broke down,” she explained. “We didn’t really get a chance to chat much because it was such a chaotic visit. But in his last text to me, he said he would be coming to Birmingham again. He said, ‘I can’t wait to come back.’ We were hoping to see him this week.”
Hemming added that they were “proud as punch about him and everything he achieved.”
“But it never went to his head. What the public saw of John was exactly what he was like in real life. It wasn’t an act,” she said. “He was just great.”
Powell concluded, “He was just our John. He used to make us laugh all the time. That’s what I’ll always remember.”
