According to Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne “held out” to perform with Black Sabbath one final time.
Just two weeks after taking the stage again for the Back To The Beginning event in his hometown of Birmingham, the heavy metal great passed suddenly on Tuesday, 22.07.25, at the age of 76. Tony is certain that his bandmate knew he would be giving him the ultimate goodbye performance.
“I think he really just held out to do that show,” the guitarist said to ITV News. Geezer (Butler) and I discussed it last night, and I really believe that he held out to do it before completing it and bidding the supporters farewell. And truly, that was the end of it.
READ MORE: At 76, Ozzy Osbourne Passed Away
According to my theory, he must have thought, ‘Well, this is going to be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.'” I’m not sure if he believed he was going to die or not. However, he was adamant about doing it because he truly wanted to. And he’s done it, fair enough.”
Tony acknowledges that the loss of his bandmate was nonetheless a “shock for us” despite Ozzy’s precarious health.
READ MORE: Megadeth Was Not Invited To Ozzy Osbourne And Black Sabbath’s Last Performance
“When I heard, it couldn’t sink in,” the 77-year-old artist stated. I reasoned that it couldn’t be. He simply texted me the previous day. It simply appeared strange and unnatural. ‘God, am I imagining all this?’ I began to worry about it during the night. However, as I already stated, he has not appeared well during the rehearsals.
Tony also thought back to a talk he had in the dressing room after the Back To The Beginning performance at Villa Park with Ozzy, who had been afflicted with Parkinson’s disease for many years.
The musician stated: “He appeared well when he came around on a wheelchair just before he left, so they brought him in to say goodbye and have a brief conversation. He liked it. “Oh, it went all right, didn’t it?” he added. Yes, it did, I said.
It would have been “too much” for Ozzy to attend rehearsals every day for the performance, according to Iommi and his fellow Black Sabbath members Terence “Geezer” Butler and Bill Ward.
He stated, “It’s too much for us to have him at rehearsal every day. He simply could not endure it.
After they brought him in, he would sit down and sing a few songs, and we would laugh and talk about old times or something. After that, he would leave. And we actually accomplished something along those lines.
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