The co-founder of Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler, remembers having been surprised to see how Ozzy Osbourne was “Frain” Ozbourne in the weeks preceding the group’s last concert on July 5.
In a post on The Sunday Times, Bassist Butler told the rehearsals for the show at Villa Park, located in Birmingham, England, not far from the place where he and Osbourne grew up. Butler and his co-founders’ co-founders of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, had started to repeat about a month for their final program.
“Of course, not having played together for 20 years, it took a few days to get rid of rust,” wrote Butler. “Then it was time for Ozzy to join us. I knew he was not in good health, but I was not ready to see how fragile he was. He was helped in the rehearsal room by two aids and a nurse and used a cane – being Ozzy, the cane was black and studied with stones of gold and precious. He didn’t really say that we did tests and when he was bloody, he had seated in an armchair. or seven songs.
The show continued, with a multitude of celebrities making appearances during the 10 -hour concert, entitled “Back to the beginning”. “Lucky fans of being there have surely had an immersive stadium show experience that they will never forget,” wrote Lina Lecaro in a summary for The Hollywood Reporter.
But, to Butler, “the strangest part of this program was the end,” he wrote. “Normally, we would all hug and take an arc against the public. But Ozzy was on his throne and we had not thought of that. What do we do to finish our story like that. I hope that I had more time with Ozzy, but I wish Ozzy to say:
“No one knew he would have started from us a little more than two weeks after the final show,” continued Butler. But I am so grateful that we were able to play one last time in front of his beloved fans. “”
Osbourne died on July 22 at 76. He revealed the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2020.
In his article, Butler also wrote about how he met Osbourne and the first years of the group. He remembered another side of Osbourne, who won the nickname “the prince of darkness”.
“For me, Ozzy was not the prince of darkness – if he was the prince of laughter,” wrote Butler. “He would do anything to laugh, an artist born.”
But he was also a good friend, remembers Butler.
“We have become inseparable brothers in their arms, still looking for each other,” he wrote. “People have always thought that Ozzy was a wild wild man, but he had a pure gold heart. Most of its infamous buffoonery – the saga of the bat, biting the head of a dove, pissing on the Alamo, sniffing the ants and the rest – came in its solo years, far from the constraints of the Sabbat Crew. But if you are a friend, there was a need, there was always for you. Ozzy called me every day to see how I was facing, even if we hadn’t talked for a year. »»
Butler also showed an appreciation for fans who presented themselves at the last concert to celebrate Osbourne.
“The love of fans and all the groups, musicians, singers and solo artists that evening was incredible,” he wrote. “Everyone had come to pay tribute to the prince. I favored so much to have spent most of my life with him. Of course, there are millions of things I think I should have written, but how can I summarize 57 incredible years of friendship in some paragraphs? God injuries, Oz, it was hell! I love you!”
Butler, Iommi and Ward also paid tribute – with other stars – in Osbourne on social networks last week.
