Ozzy knew his epic final gig might kill him, reveals Sharon Osbourne as she opens up about her grief over star’s death
SITTING atop a bat-encrusted throne in front of me and 44,000 other screaming fans at Birmingham’s Villa Park last summer, Ozzy Osbourne took his final bow.
Just 17 days later, the music world was plunged into mourning as wife Sharon announced news of the Black Sabbath legend’s death at the age of 76.
Speaking to me for her only newspaper interview, Sharon reveals Brummie Ozzy — who she was with for 45 years — knew the epic performance might kill him.
“We never told anyone how sick Ozzy was,” Sharon says. “The doctors told him if he performed, he might die.
“Ozzy asked how long he had left and they said it was months.
“He said, ‘I’ve had the most amazing life. What is a few more months going to do, with me in pain and being miserable?
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“I’d rather go my way’. And he did — on the greatest high.
“It was the greatest gift that he could choose this way out.”
Life without Ozzy has been far more difficult than Sharon and their children Aimee, Kelly and Jack ever imagined.
And they have poured all their energy into creating a feature-length film of last year’s Back To The Beginning concert, which is out in cinemas next Wednesday.
“I am still learning to live with the grief, and that grief will be with me until the day I die,” Sharon says.
“I had counselling in the beginning. And when we watched the movie last week in LA, Aimee had to leave — it was too emotional for her.
“Jack stepped up and helped me with the business and Kelly is dealing with it in her own way.
“I told them we were lucky to have him, and it’s a blessing their dad was so beloved.”
For Sharon, who had Ozzy’s remains returned to their family home in Buckinghamshire, the Prince of Darkness is still very much with her.
“We kept his phone number on and do you know how many of his friends still text him?” she says, with a sad smile.
“Why should you wipe everything out because they have gone?
“I talk to Ozzy, too. I speak to him about everything that is going on.
“I ask, ‘What would you do? Tell me what to do’. We do whatever we can to take comfort. People I don’t even know have been so gracious — they come up to me to offer their condolences.
“The other day I was pushing my trolley around M&S and a lady approached to pay her respects. It really is touching that people thought of him so highly.
“The thing about Ozzy is that you didn’t even have to like his music, because people just loved the character.
“He was larger than life, a real softie and funny as f***. I mean, the f****** fights we had . . . but it always ended in love. “He’d come out with one line which would be so funny, I’d crack and go, ‘Oh, f*** it’. Life is too short.”
Ozzy’s death saw an outpouring of grief all over the world, and Birmingham came to a standstill on the day of his funeral.
“I am blessed to have my husband’s friends. They are incredible and they have all been there for us,” Sharon says.
“We got so many messages, and we are still receiving letters, cards and flowers from fans all over the world.
“There was even one letter from King Charles.
“We had the honour of spending some time with him on a few occasions and he was just a normal bloke.
“The King loves to laugh . . . he’s really naughty, and Ozzy loved that.”
Ozzy’s farewell concert on July 5, 2025, saw the great and the good of heavy metal travel to Birmingham to perform, including Sabbath bandmates Bill Ward and Geezer Butler as well as Tony Iommi — who supported Sharon at the film’s launch in London on Tuesday.
It is two-and-a-half hours of unbridled rock ’n’ roll joy, with acts including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Slayer performing Sabbath’s biggest hits.
Sharon admits Ozzy was worried about being able to go the distance at the concert, which ran for more than ten hours.
“I was petrified because I didn’t know whether he could get through it,” Sharon explains.
“He was just praying his lungs would work and that he could sing because, along with everything else wrong with him, Ozzy had emphysema.
“He could be great for two days and then on the third day he’d wake up and couldn’t breathe. But it was mind over matter. He wanted to play with Sabbath one last time. He wanted to see his mates and the fans.”
Emotions aside, Sharon admits there was non-stop fun backstage.
She told how Hollywood actor Jason Mamoa called and asked for tickets to the show, only to be told on the day he had to compere the entire event.
“I said, ‘Just go and talk to the crowd and introduce the bands’,” Sharon recalls.
“He said, ‘I can’t do that’. So I said: ‘F**k off, you’re an actor!’.”
The concert, which raised more than £8million for local charities, has gone down in music history as the greatest gathering of heavy metal artists of all time.
And Sharon hopes Ozzy’s legacy will continue to inspire the next generation.
“People don’t understand how poor Ozzy was [as a child],” she says. “He was born in the Forties and a can of condensed soup and a white bread loaf fed him and his five siblings.
“They all slept on one bed. They didn’t have blankets — they wore coats.
“There was no bathroom, just an outside toilet in a shed.
“He worked so hard to change his life and achieve what he did.
“He was a true working-class hero, and his music will live on forever.”
GREEDY ROCKERS TRIED TO CASH IN ON CONCERT
LAST year Sharon told how one rock band – a household name – tried to profit from Ozzy’s Back To The Beginning fundraiser.
I gasped when she told me who the gutless group was.
Sharon asked me not to run the name of the band, who have a string of No1 albums, because it would make their name mud – and rightly so.
Sharon told me: “It was a charity event but everyone’s expenses were paid for.
“We asked this band for theirs and they came back with a sum over £800,000. I said, ‘F*** off’.
“I explained Metallica were bringing their whole stage set, everything, and their expenses were nowhere near that.
“For this band, it was about money. But this was not a concert to make a profit – it was for charity.
“They were taking the p***.”
If the band’s fans knew, they would be horrified. I hope one day she tells the world who it was.
Trust me, you’d be stunned.
GOT TIME FOR GLASTO, SAM?
SAM FENDER has announced his biggest ever tour, a new album and dropped a big hint that he could headline Glastonbury in 2027.
The Seventeen Going Under singer will hit the road for the first time in 18 months next summer, with stadium shows across the UK and Ireland.
He will play Newcastle’s St. James’ Park on June 3 and 5, followed by Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on June 10.
Then there will be two nights at London’s Wembley Stadium on June 18 and 20, Dublin’s Marlay Park on July 1, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on July 8 and Manchester’s Etihad Stadium on July 15 and 17.
The Proper Massive Stadium Tour will see Sam, right, perform to over 600,000 fans, and tickets go on sale at 9.30am next Friday, October 30.
Sam’s fourth album – a follow-up to 2025’s People Watching – could well be out by then, too, as fans who pre-order it will get access to tickets on Wednesday.
It’s hard not to see the clear gap in Sam’s schedule over Glastonbury weekend though – June 23 to 27.
I’ve heard some exciting whispers about next summer’s event and with Sam on board, it’d be a belter.
RYLAN: STRICTLY IS IN MY DNA
RYLAN CLARK says he’s thrilled his pal Emma Willis landed the Strictly job after he missed out on a role in the BBC show’s presenting line-up.
In an exclusive chat to celebrate Rylan teaming up with M&M’s to give away free Vue cinema tickets for Halloween, he said: “I love Emma to bits and I’m so over the moon for her. I think her, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe are doing a fantastic job.
“Being part of the show for four years hosting It Takes Two, it will always be a part of my DNA.
“I still love watching the show and long may they keep dancing.”
Rylan, inset, who has been going on secret missions for M&M’s by giving cinema-goers jumpscares before handing them free tickets, added: “I hid in a photobooth, a sofa and a ticket machine to give people spooks.
“There was one group that had quite an OTT reaction.
“They were very scared, even when it was revealed it was me, but maybe the teeth scared them off.”
TOM GRENNAN launches his bid to return to the charts tomorrow with new single, Wrapped In Gold.
The emotional track will feature on his upcoming fifth album. But before that, Tom will take to the stage at London’s O2 Arena to perform at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball.
I previously told how John Legend, Jamie Miller and Becky Hill and will be part of the December line-up, with Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey also in talks to sing.
MUNYA CHAWAWA appears to be angling to become the first influencer to be cast as James Bond.
The funnyman looked dapper as ever as he enjoyed his new role as Oatly’s first-ever Diplomat of Taste.
He was driven through London in a three-car motorcade to celebrate the opening of The Oatly Embassy in West London.
On Fridays and Saturdays, guests can enjoy free oat-based drinks and a tour of the Museum of Modern Oats.
Munya said: “If there are two things people say about me, it’s that I love oats and I’m great at diplomacy.”