Ozzy Osbourne was confused when his farewell concert received only positive reviews, having grown accustomed to harsh criticism over his decades in music. His wife Sharon Osbourne discussed his reaction and their final moments together in an interview with BBC.
Ozzy found the uniformly kind response from critics strange and unexpected. Sharon explained what he said when he read through the reviews online after the show.
“He was just so, so happy,” Sharon said. “He was online, going through the reviews and saying, ‘There’s something terribly wrong’, and I’m like, ‘Why?’. He goes, ‘I didn’t get slagged by anybody. Why are people being nice to me?’ And I’m like, ‘Because they like you’.”
Sharon also spoke about the night Ozzy died. “I was asleep. We’d spoken in the night. Ozzy had woken in the night and he asked me to kiss him twice, and I did. And then he said, ‘Hold me, hold me tight,’ and I did. And then the next thing I know, it’s early in the morning, and someone comes rushing into the room saying, ‘Come down now’. I ran down, and that was it.”
Sharon shared these reflections as she looked back on the weeks before Ozzy’s death, when the positive response to his farewell performance brought him unexpected joy. Those final moments took on deep meaning in the time that followed.
Osbourne’s final live performance took place on July 5, 2025, at the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park in Birmingham. The 10-hour stadium show drew 44,000 fans to his hometown and featured performances from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jack Black, Steven Tyler and others. Osbourne was lifted to the stage while seated on a black throne and performed hits including “Crazy Train” and “Mama I’m Coming Home” while remaining seated throughout his set. He died a little more than two weeks after this performance.
The concert came after years of health struggles. In 2020, Osbourne revealed a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, which he received following a fall in February 2019 that required neck surgery and led to nerve damage. By early 2025, he had lost his ability to walk due to the disease. Despite his deteriorating health, Sharon revealed that Osbourne was determined to give fans one last show, and she kept the truth about his condition from Black Sabbath’s bandmates and even their children during the run-up to the concert.
In October 2024, Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, marking the second time the institution recognized the singer following his induction as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006. The solo induction ceremony featured an all-star performance that included Billy Idol, Jelly Roll, and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan singing his songs. Osbourne had stated his reasons for stepping back from touring, saying he did not want to die in a hotel room and wanted to spend the rest of his life with his family.
