Sharon Osbourne on dying Ozzy's determination to perform one last time

Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath performs on stage at British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park on July 4, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. — (Image credit: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images)

Sharon Osbourne has reflected on her late husband Ozzy's final days, saying he knew he was dying but that he was adamant he wanted to perform for the fans one last time.

The Black Sabbath frontman and undisputed 'Prince of Darkness' died in July last year at the age of 76, just weeks after he played his retirement show –an all-day extravaganza called Back To The Beginning, held at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham.

The concert saw the singer perform both a four-song solo set and a five-song set with the other founding members of Sabbath – guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.

Asked whether she and Ozzy knew he only had a short time left to live when he agreed to do the show, Sharon tells the Dumb Blonde Podcast: "Yeah. Two weeks before the show, they said he could probably die, and he did.

"But he wanted to do it so bad. He needed it. And it's, like, 'Whether I die in two weeks or I die in six months, I'm still dying. And I wanna go my way.'

"And he did. He went like a rock star."

Sharon adds that the family knew they couldn't talk him out of it, no matter how much they may have wanted to.

She says: "It's like saying, when you get really old and somebody's still smoking and they're, like, 78 years of age, and you're, like, just let him smoke. Leave him alone. He's 78. Leave him alone.

"He went the way he wanted to go. He knew. He knew."

Sharon, Ozzy's wife of more than 40 years and also his long-time manager, also gives more details on the rock icon's passing.

"It was so quick," she says.. "And thank God. I knew when they were trying to revive him, I knew. I'm, like, 'Don't. Don't do it. Leave him.' He was done.

"But again, he went out like a rock star. He was a king. And he loved people. He loved his audience. He loved 'em so much. And even if you didn't like his music, you couldn't dislike him."

Sharon Osbourne | Dumb Blonde Podcast - YouTube

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.

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