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Ozzy Osbourne knew that his final concert would be his final concert.
That is what fellow rock legend Tom Morello is saying.
And he should know, as he worked with the Black Sabbath icon — even directing his farewell concert just weeks before his passing.
Morello has nothing but praise for “all time great” Osbourne, and admits that it was a “miracle” that he lived to 76.
Musician Ozzy Osbourne performs during half-time of the NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022. (Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
It ‘felt like’ Ozzy Osbourne ‘knew’
On Chicago’s Q0101 radio show this week, Tom Morello — best known for Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave — praised fellow rock legend Ozzy Osbourne.
“If you have got to go — I mean, I wish Ozzy lived another 30 years —–but if you’ve got to go out, it really felt like he knew,” he observed.
Morello praised Osbourne as “one of the all-time greats.”
Ozzy Osbourne speaks onstage during the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony streaming on Disney+ at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 19, 2024. (Photo Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Morello notably worked as the music director for Osbourne’s farewell concert, Back to the Beginning. That was in England on July 5.
Osbourne was “frail” at the time.
He would ultimately pass just 17 days later, on July 22.
Morello gushed over “the fact that he lived to play and feel that love and to one more time; you know, to do ‘Paranoid;’ to do ‘Crazy Train.’”
Musician Ozzy Osbourne performs during half-time of the NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on September 08, 2022. (Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
‘A spiritually great moment for all fans’
“On the day, a million things could have gone wrong, and maybe like three things did,” Tom Morello acknowledged of the Ozzy Osbourne farewell concert.
“But it felt like a spiritually great moment for all fans of rock and roll,” he expressed.
He was quick to emphasize that, whether or not Osbourne knew that his time was running short, his passing was “terrible” news.
Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath performs on August 08, 2022. (Photo Credit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Morello observed that Osbourne “had been frail for a while, but friends of mine saw him a week later.”
Simultaneously, the Black Sabbath rocker’s death was a “tragedy” while his life was a “miracle” simply because he “lived as long as he did.”
Living to 76 would be almost impossible for most people attempting to emulate Osbourne’s rock star lifestyle.
(Please, do not try to emulate it; his genetic quirks allowed him to survive things that most would not)
Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath performs during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony at Alexander Stadium on August 08, 2022. (Photo Credit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
‘The greatest day in the history of heavy metal’
Tom Morello went on to affirm that he set out to make the final Ozzy Osbourne concert “the greatest day in the history of heavy metal.”
He acknowledged that the late rocker “lived a pretty on-the-edge lifestyle for a long time.”
Osbourne’s legend will endure for generations.
His larger than life personality and his impact on the music world cannot be overstated.
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