Ozzy Osbourne faced many health problems during his final years, and his widow Sharon Osbourne revealed in an interview on the Dumb Blonde podcast that he knew weeks in advance that his end was near. However, he still refused to give up and said he wanted to do the final show at the Back to the Beginning festival.
Sharon Osbourne spoke about Ozzy playing his final show despite knowing about the doctors’ predictions
“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.”
“It’s kind of bittersweet, because, again, we knew. Ozzy had sepsis earlier on last year. And very few people ever walk away from that without losing a limb or their life… As soon as he got sepsis, the kids and I, we knew it was time. And then when we went to England, he went into hospital for a week. When he came out, they said, ‘You know, Ozzy, this could kill you.’ H said, ‘I’m doing my show.’ It was — I mean, he went out like a king.”
He continued:
“The thing is when you’ve lived your life that way, and it was, like, ‘Okay, six months more to go out the way I wanna go out.’ 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. And it’s, like, he went the way he wanted to go. He knew. He knew.”
“It was so quick (his passing) 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. Ooh, did he ever? … He was a king and he loved people. He loved his audience. He loved ’em so much. Even if you didn’t like his music, you couldn’t dislike him,” Sharon Osbourne said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The “Back to the Beginning” festival happened on July 5, 2025, at the Villa Park in Birmingham, Sabbath’s hometown. During that festival, many bands like Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses and supergroups formed by former members of Ozzy’s solo years, paid tribute to him and Sabbath playing some of their famous tracks.