The world was shaken this morning, following the death of the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.
The 76-year-old passed just weeks after he and Black Sabbath’s ‘Back to the Beginning’ farewell gig in Birmingham’s Villa Park.
In hindsight, this eight-hour mammoth concert came at a perfect time and has served as the perfect send-off for the iconic, jam-packed life that Ozzy led.
Let’s take a look back at his final performances, both by himself and with Black Sabbath.
‘Mama I’m Coming Home’
We felt it was only right to start with recapping his legendary tune ‘Mama I’m Coming Home,’ and shit, this one hit home.
This was a powerful final performance of the ballad, the crowd of 42,000 waving their flashlights, and many of the fans caught on livestream were in puddles of tears. (Same.)
This was not just a performance - this was a goodbye to his lengthy, life-changing career. Now, this can serve as a symbol.
Ozzy, we can’t stand to say goodbye.
I Don’t Know
His solo set was five songs long and kicked off with the 1980 track ‘I Don’t Know’, with his band made up of drummer Tommy Clufetos, guitarist Zakk Wylde, keyboardist Adam Wakeman, and bassist Mike Inez.
What an epic opening. The guitar work was phenomenal, and it was just emotional to see Ozzy out there, knowing it was his last dance.
Mr Crowley
During the iconic build-up of 'Mr Crowley', Ozzy put his hands to his ears to get more noise out of the crowd, before getting into the tune.
On ya, Ozzy.
Suicide Solution
'Suicide Solution' went just as hard. Midway through, Ozzy took a second to clap above his head, commanding the crowd to do so too, and the energy off the back of that was just unreal.
After 'Suicide Solution', he took a moment to soak it all in.
“I’ve been laid up for six fucking years, you have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
Brings you to tears.
Crazy Train
His final song for his solo performance was ‘Crazy Train’
Before jamming into it, he asked the crowd, “Are you ready?” After one cheer, he said: “I can’t fucking hear you, ARE YOU READY?”.
He then yelled: “ALL ABOARD!!” and the guitar ripped into it.
It sends shivers down the spine - the way that Ozzy could still rock like that - just weeks away from passing away.
And the epic shit didn’t stop after his solo performance. Black Sabbath gave us something to fucking remember.
The set started with Ozzy himself saying: “Let me see those fucking hands!”
The crowd cheered, and the guitars strummed, then Ozzy ripped the all-familiar “We are Black Sabbath!”
War Pigs
The band’s set was four songs long, the first of all being ‘War Pigs’.
All rock fans went ballistic, seeing these guys all together for the first time in decades.
N.I.B
'N.I.B.' came next, starting with an iconic bass solo from Geezer Butler.
At the end of the song, Ozzy shot his hands in the air, and the crowd (somehow) went even crazier.
Iron Man
When the iconic drum beat started, you can hear Ozzy doing his classic “Oi, oi!”, and then the crowd following suit.
Bill Ward was rocking the legendary shirtless look, and did it just as good at 77.
Paranoid
Then came time, for the final goodbye. ‘Paranoid’ was the poison they picked for the final hurrah.
Ozzy thanked the crowd “from the bottom of his heart” and said: “I love you, we love you”.
Just before one of the best metal bands we will ever see put the cherry on top, Ozzy said: “Go fucking crazy for the last time! Come on”.
That’s just what the crowd did.
At the end of the song, he put his hands up and basked in the end of his touring career, and what we can now label as a goodbye to us all.
Fortunately for every Ozzy fan, the epic gig is set to hit cinemas in 2026.
It will be a "distilled version" and run for 100 minutes, aiming to "capture the raw power and emotional weight of Ozzy’s final bow", with "exclusive behind-the-scenes access and interviews".
Although it doesn’t seem real that we will never see Ozzy rock a stage ever again, we have to be grateful that we got the chance to witness such an epic goodbye, one that will go down in the history books.
Thank you, Ozzy.
