The world said goodbye to a legend today. Ozzy Osbourne passed away this morning (July 23), leaving behind a legacy like no other.
We, as a radio station, have had the privilege of speaking with Ozzy over the years. Back in 2012, The Morning Rumble spoke to him ahead of Black Sabbath’s long-awaited return to New Zealand.
“I’m really looking forward to coming to see you guys,” he told Bryce and Rog at the time, in that unmistakable voice. “It’s been a long time since we played.”
It certainly had. The band hadn’t performed in New Zealand since 1973, at The Great Ngāruawāhia Festival - and Ozzy remembered it vividly.
“It was like a natural auditorium,” he said. “There was a river, and we had a helicopter…”
Speaking about a haka that was performed for him, which he didn’t quite know the word for, he said “the Māori people were doing this tribal dance thing. It was really interesting to watch.”
Despite his reputation for hazy recollections of the early years, it’s clear that in 2012, Ozzy’s memory of that concert was clear and vivid.
At one point, Bryce asked Ozzy, “Apparently someone in Black Sabbath burnt a cross on the hill?”
“Not me,” Ozzy chuckled. “I’m not guilty.”
Despite Ozzy laughing the question off, promoter of the show Barry Coburn later told NZ Herald that Ozzy literally ‘summoned’ him, telling him to make the burning cross happen.
And Coburn did. With the help of the festival carpenter, they found wood, wire, and scrub for the cross.
“We took the parts for the cross to the top of the hill and hastily erected a cross that would burn at midnight,” Coburn told NZ Herald in 2011.
Ozzy spoke with softness about his past when asked if he would do anything differently in life. “I’m a survivor,” he told The Rumble. “I’ve died twice in my life… If I could live my life all over again, would I change anything? No. Because if I changed anything, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
There was wisdom behind the madness. “I’m a believer that your life is kind of set out before you even get here. When the man upstairs wants you to go, you go, you know?”
And today, sadly, he has.
Even in 2012, Ozzy expressed disbelief at how relevant Black Sabbath remained. “We didn’t know what we were doing would last,” he said. “We didn’t go, ‘in 45 years' time, [people] are gonna go ‘this is still relevant’.’ I’m shocked. Ya know, I’m happy - but I don’t understand what it’s all about.”
The Rumble and Ozzy spoke briefly about the lineup changes that happened within Black Sabbath, namely the absence of original drummer Bill Ward. When asked if he wished the full, original line-up could be there for the 2013 show, he said, “Oh absolutely. I wish he was there.”
That was Ozzy - unfiltered, and unapologetically honest.
Ozzy told The Rumble at some point during the interview, “My long-term memory is amazing… as for an hour ago?”
But what he gave to the world - his voice, his madness, his magic - will be remembered for a long, long time to come.
Rest in peace, Ozzy. You gave us everything, and then some.
