Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello says he believes Ozzy Osbourne “knew” he was dying at his final concert.
Black Sabbath played a monumental farewell gig, Back To The Beginning, in his hometown of Birmingham just two weeks before his passing.
“If you have got to go — I mean, I wish Ozzy lived another 30 years — but if you’ve got to go out, it really felt like he knew,” Morello told Chicago’s Q101 radio show.
“On the day, a million things could have gone wrong, and maybe like three things did,” he said about the concert. “But it felt like a spiritually great moment for all fans of rock and roll.”
That gig, which took place on July 5th at Villa Park, saw Ozzy joined by rock heavyweights including Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, Gojira, Anthrax, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
Morello said the death of Osbourne was “terrible” news, but added that he had been “frail for a while” and it was a “miracle” that he lived for as long as he did.
The guitarist said his friends had met with Osbourne one week after the concert, a week before his passing.
Many Black Sabbath fans have hailed the Birmingham gig as one of the greatest moments in metal history, with some agreeing with Morello that Ozzy knew he was dying and had pushed himself to stick around long enough to play the gig.
The event, which was live-streamed around the world to 5.8 million, and raised “tons” of money for three charities: Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
“It’s so good to be on this f***ing stage, you have no idea,” the ‘Crazy Train’ singer told the audience during the show.
Ozzy had overcome a number of health struggles to play the epic gig, as documented in the BBC’s upcoming documentary ‘Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home'.
