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Tony Iommi on Ozzy Osbourne's death: 'He held out for final show'

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi believes Ozzy Osbourne "held out" to perform one last show before he died.

The charismatic frontman passed away on Tuesday aged 76, just weeks after he reunited with his bandmates for a final concert.

In an interview with ITV News aired on Wednesday evening, guitarist Tony spoke revealed his deep relief that Ozzy made it on stage for the Back to the Beginning concert held in his hometown of Birmingham, England.

"I think he really just held out to do that show," Tony explained. "I really feel - and me and Geezer (Geezer Butler, Black Sabbath bassist) were talking about it last night - that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he's done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really."

He continued, "I think he must have had something in his head that said, 'Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I'm ever gonna do.'"

Although Ozzy had suffered with ill health for some years and was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2019, Tony confessed that the news of his death was still a "shock".

The Black Sabbath co-founder disclosed that Ozzy's passing is yet to fully "sink in" and it will take time to recover from the loss of his close friend.

He explained. "I thought, 'It can't be.' I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And in the night, I started thinking about it: 'God, am I dreaming all this?' But as I said before, he's not looked well through the rehearsals."

Back to the Beginning boasted a star-studded line up including Guns N' Roses, KoRn, Metallica, Slayer and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

Tony recalled Ozzy visiting his changing room in a wheelchair after their performance and although his health was declining, the fundraiser had meant "everything to him".

However, preparing for the show and performing live had clearly taken a toll on the heavy metal icon.

"I had the text off him the day before yesterday saying he's tired and he's really got no energy," Tony shared. "And I thought, 'Oh, dear' - because it's a lot for him to do that under the problems he's got. And we could see it in rehearsal."

Photo: Music-News
Source: Cover Media
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