In the wake of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, Howard Stern took a break from his scheduled summer vacation to return to his SiriusXM radio show on Wednesday (Aug. 6th) in order to pay tribute to the late Black Sabbath frontman. “Ozzy’s gone and I’m profoundly sad,” he said while “Mama, I’m Coming Home” played in the background.
Joining him to talk about Osbourne was Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich – who just last month performed at Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final show “Back to the Beginning” in Birmingham, England.
“For him to feel that the journey was coming to a respectful end, that fulfilling end that he needed so the book could be closed… and I knew in my heart that he wanted to do that,” Ulrich said of Osbourne’s determination to play the show and give fans a proper farewell despite his health issues.
Stern went on to ask Ulrich if he had a chance to personally say goodbye to Ozzy during that final concert and if he had any “sense he was going to be dead in a few days?”
“No, no… we hung, we said hello, we hugged,” Ulrich recalled of his interactions with Osbourne just 17 days before his death.
“We were just sitting doing small talk, but it was so warm and he was very present, coherent. It was just his body that was not in good shape, but his mind… he was eloquent and talking and in the moment.”
He continued, admitting that at the time he wasn’t so sure if Osbourne was even going to be able to perform.
“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn here or being disrespectful — as fans I think there was a sense from all the other musicians and friends of Black Sabbath who were there… we were hoping for the best. We wanted it to be the best. We wanted it to be a grand slam, but we didn’t know, because ultimately none of us knew what kind of shape they were in.”
“Then Ozzy came in singing and sounded great, hit all the notes and the lyrics and the timings and everybody was like, ‘this is gonna be fine, they’re gonna f–king kill it.’”
“Obviously it was the end of the music and the end of the live experience, but it wasn’t like… yes, he wasn’t in great shape, but nobody walked away from that three or four day weekend going, ‘that’s the last time we’ll see Ozzy,’” he said.
Just over two weeks later, Osbourne passed away from a heart attack. To Ulrich, his death came as a complete shock, with him calling the news “surreal” and “indescribable.”
“We were all just so stunned. So sad. But at the same time he got to live, to accomplish that concert and that appearance that had been in him since before COVID. He got up there, he played [five solo songs and four Sabbath songs]…. and I think probably if you’re going go play [a] little quarterback/psychiatrist, Monday morning, maybe it was just a load off his shoulders and he got to accomplish what he wanted and maybe he just sort of let go.”
