Last summer, Ozzy Osbourne played his final concert, a supersized stadium show to 44,000 fans in his hometown of Birmingham, England with a stacked lineup that rivaled only his own Ozzfest festivals. Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Mastodon, and supergroups arranged by Tom Morello that included Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar, and estranged members of Osbourne’s solo bands performed his hits.
The 10-hour event, dubbed Back to the Beginning, ended with Osbourne singing a handful of his solo hits and a reunion of Osbourne with Black Sabbath’s founding members. It made for an emotional and stunning farewell for the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness, who had been suffering from multiple health setbacks and died 17 days later.
The event was livestreamed and proceeds from ticket sales to the concert and stream went to charity. Now footage from the concert is coming out as the two-and-a-half–hour Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning concert film featuring performances by every artist who performed that day. Osbourne’s family is hosting a “purple carpet” world premiere of the film at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday. (Half of the proceeds from ticket sales to the premiere will benefit homeless charities.) The film will then open in movie theaters around the world on Oct. 28.
Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, has spent the last year grieving the loss of her best friend. “It’s been very, very tough,” she tells Rolling Stone. “But you know what? I had 46 years of marriage with an amazing guy, so I was blessed.”
She has yet to watch the two documentaries she and Ozzy participated in, in the months prior to his death: Paramount+’s Ozzy: No Escape from Now and the BBC’s Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home. “I can’t,” she says, “I’m just not ready mentally.” But she has watched Back to the Beginning, which filmmaker Ben Wainwright-Pearce (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour) directed and mixed in 5.1 surround sound.
In a rare interview about Ozzy ahead of the film’s release, Sharon tells Rolling Stone how Ozzy saw the whole day as a great achievement. “It’s just something that will stand the test of time,” she says. “It was groundbreaking for what it was. Like everything with Ozzy, he’s the first.”
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How have you been holding up in the past year?
It’s been very, very tough. It’s something in life that everyone has to go through, grief, but I’ve had a lot of other things going on — not just grief — but things that have come out about bad advice being handled by people that were not what I thought. It’s amazing that when somebody passes, you see all the bad things that were going on around that person. I’m in a lot of litigation right now with a lot of businesspeople, and it’s just ugly. Ugly.
This film has been in the works for months. How has the process been for you?
It was very hard to watch a lot of this film. I had to, but it was very, very hard.
It’s bittersweet. It’s amazing. Everything about the show was amazing and just a joyous occasion and one that will go down in music history. I’m proud of that and that it was for my husband, and I’m so thankful to everyone that took part in it, for their time, their effort, their giving.
The most precious thing we all have is time, and I keep telling my children this. For people to give up days of their lives for us for free, for charity is an amazing thing. Then to see where that money went and what it meant to so many different people, it’s all just overwhelming, but in a great, positive way.
What did it take to get Ozzy to that show?
He was in hospital in America before he left. We moved back to England, and we had a whole new team of doctors. His new doctors didn’t want to take doctor’s notes from America. They wanted to make their own assessment on him. He was in hospital for a week in England.
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After he came out of hospital, they asked for a meeting, and they came to our house. We had six different doctors and, like, a quarterback, because there were all of these specialists for the heart, for Parkinson’s, for his lungs, because of all the different things that were wrong with him.
They advised us not to do the show. They said it would kill him. We were all together and Ozzy said, “It’s not an option. It’s what I want.” He said, “I know I’m dying. If I miss a few months of my life, I want to go this way. This is what I want.” It was his wishes and we went through it. He said to me, “Another six months, what’s it going to do for me?”
For him to make that decision and perform must have been emotional.
He was very, very emotional. But you know what? It was beautiful too. It was amazing. How lucky was he to go out that way? I say he went out like a Viking. It was the way he wanted.
Ozzy always used to say, “I’m one lucky motherfucker. Who else has had my life? I got everything I dreamed about.” He had no regrets about anything. He knew what his destiny was. He chose it.
He sounded good at the concert, too.
We’re talking about a guy that had hardly any lungs left. He had emphysema. I don’t know how he did it. But he did it, and it’s what he wanted.
And in that way it’s glorious. It’s not sad. If we all have a chance to pick the way we go out … Do you know what I’m saying? It was a triumph to be surrounded by your friends, your family, your fans that adore you and what you are doing that day. It’s just amazing. It’s not sad. He was blessed to be able to choose the way you die.
What was Ozzy doing in the hours before his performance?
He was in his dressing room the whole day watching everybody on the screens in his dressing room, and he just was like a fan. He was a fan of everybody that was there onstage. He was like, “Oh, my God. I can’t believe they’ve just done that number and this and that,” commenting the whole way. He saw everybody. He was just elated with it.
Sharon Osbourne
“[Doctors] advised us not to do the show. They said it would kill him. We were all together and Ozzy said, “It’s not an option. It’s what I want.”
What struck you about the performances when you watched it all again?
The love and the respect that was there. It was old friends seeing other friends. It was just amazing for everyone that was there, for all the guys, and everyone. It was just a great day.
Well, it was more than a great day; basically, it was Ozzy’s goodbye, and he knew it was his goodbye. My kids didn’t know. We didn’t tell the children. We didn’t tell anyone. But we knew what was going on. Sabbath didn’t know, nothing. But again, it’s not sad. Look at him, a Viking to the end.
What did it mean to him for that final performance to be with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward — the original Black Sabbath bandmates?
It had to end with Black Sabbath. That’s where it had begun. He desperately, desperately wanted to play with Bill. No matter what had gone on with Bill, there was never a week that Ozzy didn’t speak to him.
I think Ozzy was the one that spoke to everyone, because I know Geezer doesn’t like talking on the phone too much, and Tony likes his privacy, and so Ozzy really was the one that spoke to everyone. I’m not saying this to sound bad, it’s just that they’re not the guys that check in weekly with each other. There’s a love, there’s always that invisible thread that holds them all together, but Ozzy was the chatty one.
There was a handful of guys that he would talk to regularly … Jonathan [Davis] from Korn and Slash and Zakk [Wylde], absolutely weekly, always. Tony, too. He would text Tony all the time. They would send each other silly things from online shit, and they’d giggle about it.
Watching Black Sabbath’s set that day, you could see the camaraderie between the four of them.
They don’t need to say anything to each other. They just look at each other and know.
What did he say after he performed?
He just kept saying, “I did it. I did it.” The next 17 days, he was so, so happy. He was just elated. He just couldn’t believe how everybody turned out for him. It was glorious to see how happy he was, because he’d been so depressed, so down. Last night, I read a letter from a fan who was at the show, and this fan said, “I saw a young man trapped in an old man’s body.” That’s so true.
How did you feel when you saw the final cut, in 5.1 surround sound?
I was in awe of it all. In awe. Did it really happen? Am I going to fucking wake up in a minute? It was so immense, the whole thing. But as I keep saying, gloriously so.
I feel that I never, ever thank these guys enough for making it a reality: Every single person, every crew member, the caterers, the crew, the truck drivers, everybody was just fucking awesome. The musicians, come on, look who was there: Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler, just the greatest guys that are good, good guys, everyone. It was great to see [former Ozzy band members] Jake E. Lee, Rudy [Sarzo]. It was just unbelievable.
How involved were you in which performances made the cut?
Everybody that performed is seen on the film. Everybody. It’s so hard to say, “I’m not going to put them in and them in.” No, because every single person helped make money for charity that day and was there out of love for my husband and Sabbath. So no, I couldn’t do that. But of course, we couldn’t show the whole day [since] it’s 10 hours.
Which tribute performances impressed you?
Oh my God, there so many great, great performances. It was just overwhelming. Even down to when the drummers were up there, Travis [Barker] and Chad [Smith] and Danny [Carey]. Everything was just great that day. Without Tom Morello, without [Live Nation promoter] Andy Copping, it would never have happened.
Tom Morello was an absolute saint and he is incredible. His sense of music and of what’s right and what’s not right, he’s just an incredible person. He needs a sainthood. He is the saint of metal. He’s so wise and knows what he’s talking about on so many different levels.
Andy Copping, who has been in our lives forever too, from Live Nation, he is just an incredible music man. There’s not one band on that show that wasn’t a friend of Andy’s. Even though he works for Live Nation, a huge corporation, everybody adores Andy Copping. He’s one of the most famous promoters in the world. He’s just the best.
They put together a great lineup. I was impressed with each new band added.
We really, really wanted Megadeth. There was no time, we couldn’t fit everybody in on one day. There were so many bands that were due to play that we just couldn’t because there was not enough time.
The artists who did perform seem almost like a “This is your life” moment for Ozzy.
Exactly, and it was for a great cause.
When you watched the film, did it feel like Ozzy was still with you?
He ain’t left me for a minute. I go to sleep wearing his T-shirts. I wake up wearing his glasses. I’m surrounded by him always. That’s why there’s nothing to be sad. I was blessed to have him in my life, and nothing is forever. It’ll be my time soon, and it’s the circle. That’s what happens with everyone. It was just my time to lose the love of my life, but you go on.
But look at what I had, what I still have. Look at what he left everyone, a great body of work, that fucking smile of his. I always say you didn’t have to like Ozzy’s music to like Ozzy. You just liked him. Look at the amount of musicians that he has worked with; there’s three guys that never liked him, and that’s a fucking great record to have. When you think of everybody’s life who he touched as a musician, and only three of them didn’t like him, it’s like, fucking hell, when I go, there’s going to be fucking thousands. But three guys? I can fucking live with that.
What would Ozzy say if he saw this film?
He would say, “How lucky am I?” He goes, “I’m one lucky son of a bitch.” And he knew it. He never took anything for granted, ever.
He’d say, “Look at me. Look at my life. Look at my family that I have, my friends that I have, my fans. I have nothing to complain about. Not one fucking thing.” Even when he was in agony with his health, his last six years, there was so much pain in his body. He suffered greatly. But he was still like, “Hey, I can’t fucking complain. This is it.”
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I said to him, “If you could do it all again, if you could have not done the drugs and the drink, would you?” He goes, “Fuck it. I loved it.”