Sharon Osbourne has reflected on her late husband Ozzy's final days, saying he knew he was dying but he was determined to perform for the fans one last time.
The legendary Black Sabbath front man and undisputed “Prince of Darkness” died in July last year at the age of 76, just weeks after he played his retirement show, 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.
When Sharon was asked whether she and Ozzy knew he only had a short time left to live when he agreed to do the show, she replied on 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,” the veteran X Factor judge added.
Sharon explained that the family knew they couldn't talk him out of it, no matter how much they may have wanted to, saying, "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," she insisted.
Ozzy Osbourne faced a series of serious health challenges in recent years, significantly affecting his career and daily life.
In 2019, he suffered a fall that aggravated old spinal injuries, requiring multiple surgeries. Around the same time, he publicly revealed his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that impacts movement and coordination.
He has spoken openly about chronic pain, mobility issues, and the emotional toll of his condition, once saying, “It’s been terribly challenging for us all.”
Sharon, also gave more details on the rock icon's passing. "It was so quick," she recalled, adding, "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 concluded.