Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has confessed that he “wasn’t prepared to see how frail” Ozzy Osbourne was when they met to rehearse for their band’s final show.
On 5 July, the groundbreaking heavy metal band were celebrated at Back to the Beginning, a charity concert held in their hometown of Birmingham with the original lineup, along with other bands including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and Alice in Chains.
Osbourne died just weeks after the show took place, aged 76. He suffered from a number of health issues over the years, and revealed in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I knew he wasn’t in good health, but I wasn’t prepared to see how frail he was,” Butler, 76, wrote in an essay for The Sunday Times.
He and Osbourne knew each other for 57 years, having met and formed Black Sabbath in 1968 along with co-founders Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.
Butler said Osbourne joined his three bandmates for rehearsals shortly before the concert took place.
“He was helped into the rehearsal room by two helpers and a nurse and was using a cane – being Ozzy, the cane was black and studded with gold and precious stones,” he said.
He continued: “He didn’t really say much beyond the usual greetings, and when he sang, he sat in a chair. We ran through the songs, but we could see it was exhausting him after six or seven songs.”
Butler said the “strangest” part of the show was the end, as past Sabbath shows would conclude with a hug between bandmates and a bow to the audience.
“But Ozzy was on his throne and we hadn’t thought that out,” he wrote. “What do we do? Tony shook his hand, I presented him with a cake, but it was such a strange feeling to end our story like that. I wish I’d had more time backstage with Ozzy, but wishes are redundant now.
“As Ozzy used to say, ‘Wish in one hand and s*** in the other and see which comes first.’”
After Osbourne died on 22 July, tributes poured in from fellow rock legends along with pop stars and actors such as Elton John, Lady Gaga and Jason Momoa.
As Oasis kicked off the first of their seven shows at Wembley Stadium on Friday (25 July), singer Liam Gallagher dedicated their 1994 hit single “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” to the late musician.
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