Sharon Osbourne has revealed that her late husband Ozzy "knew" that he did not have long left to live around the time of his final show with Black Sabbath.
Osbourne, passed away aged 76 last July, just weeks after he played for Black Sabbath at their 'Back to the Beginning' farewell show in Villa Park, Birmingham, which marked the first appearance featuring Ozzy alongside bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward since 2005.
The singer's death sent shockwaves around the music industry, with a myriad of artists quick to pay tribute to him on social media, including his former bandmate Iommi, as well as Ronnie Wood and Robert Plant among others. See them all here.
Now, his widow, Sharon Osbourne has shared that Ozzy was aware that he did not have long left to live in the run up to this final gig in Birmingham, but "wanted to do it so bad".
Sharon spoke about this on the Dumb Blonde podcast, where she said: “Two weeks before the show, they said he could probably die, and he did. But he wanted to do it so bad".
“He needed it. And [he was] like, ‘Whether I die in two weeks or I die in six months, I’m still dying. And I want to go my way.’ And he did. He went like a rock star", she continued.
Osbourne had been suffering with poor health for years, including battling coronary heart disease and Parkinson's. If that was not enough, Sharon Osbourne also went on to explain that Ozzy had fought off sepsis earlier this year.
“When he came out [of hospital], they said, ‘You know, Ozzy, this could kill you.’ And he said, ‘I’m doing my show.’ He went out like a king", she stated.
“The thing is when you’ve lived your life that way, it was, like, ‘OK, six months more to go out the way I want to go out’,” she added. “It’s like when you get really old who is still smoking and they’re 78 years of age, you’re like ‘Just let him smoke. Leave him alone. He’s 78.’ He went the way he wanted to go. He knew".
Elsewhere, Sharon Osbourne said that Ozzy's death happened "so quick", before describing him as "a king".
“He loved people. He loved his audience. He loved them so much. And even if you didn’t like his music, you couldn’t dislike him,” she added, also saying that she is still finding it “hard” to come to terms with the loss.
“I’m getting there. It’s hard,” she said. “I’m gonna keep working and I’m going to keep doing what I do in my life. And that’s it".
Las week, Sharon Osbourne offered her seal of approval to anyone dressing up as her late husband for Mardi Gras. Find out more on this here.
