Ozzy Osbourne was aware he was near the end of his life when he took part in his final Black Sabbath performance, according to his friend Tom Morello.
Morello, who worked on Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell gig in Birmingham on July 5, told Chicago’s Q101 radio station recently that Osbourne was “frail” for a while in the lead up to his death. (Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76 following a battle with Parkinson’s Disease.)
“The fact he lived to play and feel that love one more time, to do ‘Paranoid’, to do ‘Crazy Train’. If you have got to go — and I wish Ozzy lived another 30 years — if you’ve got to go out… it felt like he knew,” Morello said on the radio show.
While the musical director described Osbourne’s death as “tragic,” he noted, “Ozzy Osbourne had lived on the edge for such a long time, the fact he lived as long as he did was a miracle.”
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Morello reflected that Osbourne’s death still came as a shock to him despite his wild lifestyle and recent health issues.
“He had been frail for a while, but friends of mine saw him a week later. He was at another event in Birmingham a week later,” he said. “He wasn’t on his deathbed. He was just sort of living his life. It was a terrible and tragic surprise.”
Osbourne died just weeks after his final on-stage performance as part of Black Sabbath. His cause of death was cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease, according to a death certificate obtained by The U.K.’s The Sun.
The rocker was survived by his wife Sharon, who he had been married since 1982 and their children: Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and son Jack, 39. The singer also shared daughter Jessica, 51, and son Louis, 49, with ex-wife Thelma Riley.
“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,” Osbourne’s family said in a statement shared with Us Weekly at the time. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
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A new documentary about Osbourne’s final years, Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, was set to air earlier this week in the U.K. but was pulled by broadcaster BBC at the eleventh hour.
The BBC explained the decision to postpone the air date was made in line with what the family wanted.
“Our sympathies are with the Osbourne family at this difficult time. We are respecting the family’s wishes to wait a bit longer before airing this very special film. The new [transmission] date will be confirmed shortly,” the BBC said in a statement to Us Weekly on Tuesday, August 19.
