Ozzy Osbourne’s close friend and musical director of Back To The Beginning, Tom Morello, has opened up about the rock legend’s final days before his passing on July 22
Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne seemed to have a premonition that his performance at Villa Park would be his last public appearance.
His close friend and musical director of Back To The Beginning, Tom Morello, revealed that he believes the Brummie superstar sensed his time was running out. The concert at Villa Park took place just under three weeks before the Prince of Darkness’ untimely death.
Despite Ozzy appearing “frail,” Morello confessed it was a “tragic surprise” when he passed away so shortly after his final show. Morello, known for his work with Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, even had a private moment to bid farewell after the “legendary” gig.
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While speaking on US station Q101, Morello shared, “It is a tragedy. Ozzy Osbourne has lived a pretty on-the-edge life for such a long time and the fact he lived as long as he did was a miracle.”
He continued, “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.”
Ozzy made sure to express his gratitude to Morello, who collaborated with him and Sharon for nearly two years on the Black Sabbath reunion.
Morello went on to add, “He came to the after party. I was actually playing pinball with my son Roman and somebody’s tapping me on the shoulder so I’m like, ‘Get off me! I am having a good game’ It was Jack Osbourne like, ‘Ozzy wants to say hi!’ I got to thank him, tell him I love him and kiss his head. He is one of the all-time greats and it was quite a day.”
When asked about his reaction to the death, Morello replied, “He has been frail for a while. But friends of mine saw him a week later at another event in Birmingham. He wasn’t on his death bed. He was just sort of living his life. It was a terrible and tragic surprise.”
He added, “Rather than dwelling on that I’d like to dwell on the amazing and groundbreaking career that he and Sabbath had.”
Morello shared that getting the concept of a Sabbath finale right was crucial, with many stars missing out on an appearance.
He said, “When I was approached by Sharon and Ozzy I was like ‘If we are going to do this thing it has got to be the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. If we do this right it is going to be the most important day in that genre.'”
Morello explained, “We worked hard to make that happen. A million things could have gone wrong and three things did. It felt like a spiritually great moment for all fans of rock and roll. Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. Ozzy and Sabbath could not be more important to me as a fan.”
He continued, “I laid out to make it a great show for fans and for them. It is so unusual that those guys headlined it. They got to see all the work they had done and the great artists their music had created but perform for them. And they got to play and feel the love not just from the other bands, the 40,000 people in the stadium but from people all over the world.”
Morello concluded, “I do not know if there has ever been an event like that, while everybody is alive, they really got the full measure of how the world loves them.”
The Prince of Darkness, among the most iconic and groundbreaking figures in rock history, passed away at age 76 on July 22. Leading Black Sabbath as their vocalist, the Birmingham native is widely recognized for creating heavy metal through legendary tracks such as Iron Man and Paranoid.
His loved ones released a statement saying, “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. He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
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