Tony Iommi has revealed how he reacted to his Black Sabbath bandmate, Ozzy Osbourne, sadly dying just hours after the pair engaged in a conversation with one another
Ozzy Osbourne’s bandmate Tony Iommi has revealed the pair spoke just hours before the rocker died. The Black Sabbath legend died aged 76 at home in Jordans, on July 22, last year.
His death came just weeks after the Prince of Darkness reunited with his bandmates for his final concert, Back to the Beginning, at his beloved Villa Park – not far from where he grew up.
His cause of death was ruled as an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction (joint causes). Now, Tony has spoken about how he and Ozzy were texting one another just hours before he tragically died, surrounded by his family.
“I didn’t expect him to go overnight; it was a hell of a shock,” Tony told The Sun. Last week, on the first anniversary of Ozzy’s death, Tony took to social media to share a tear-jerking tribute to his late bandmate.
He said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Well, it’s now a year since Ozzy’s passing, and I still can’t believe that he’s not with us. I watch him on YouTube, and it feels like he’s still here with us. We always stayed in touch, almost every week or so, and we’d usually talk about our ailments and then about what we’d been doing that particular week.”
In the years leading up to Ozzy’s death, the legendary rocker suffered from a string of health issues, including multiple operations after a fall in February 2019, as well as being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Iommi, nicknamed The Godfather Of Heavy Metal, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012 and announced he was in remission in 2016. He continued: “The fans have been absolutely brilliant, and the love and respect that they have shown for him has just been amazing.
“I’m so glad that we were able to play one final show with the original line-up of Sabbath at the Back To The Beginning show in our hometown of Birmingham. There will never be another Ozzy. I miss you, my dear friend.”
Kelly, Ozzy’s youngest daughter, also said she “aches every single day” and misses the legend with “every part of my soul”. She said: “One year ago today, the world changed forever. Today, I sit here beside you in a way I never thought would be possible. I know you are still with me. I feel you in the quiet, in the wind, in every song that stops me in my tracks, is (sic) the smell of your cologne and in every moment that love outweighs grief. You are all around me.”
She said how living without her father “has been the hardest thing I have ever had to endure” and said: “Now all I have are memories. But my God, what beautiful memories they are. Even through all the madness we lived through, you somehow made every moment worthwhile.”
TV star and singer Kelly recounted fond memories with her father and said: “I have never loved anyone or anything as deeply as uniquely as I love you.
“And now I carry all of that love with nowhere to place it except within me, my son, and mumma. It aches every single day, but it is also the greatest privilege of my life. To have loved someone so completely.”
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