Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi says Ozzy Osbourne's death is 'like losing a brother'
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi has said he is struggling to accept Ozzy Osbourne's death and says it has affected the band "bad". The rock icon died on Tuesday, aged 76, just weeks after his farewell concert in Birmingham.
Ozzy's heartbroken family shared the sad news, as they revealed he was surrounded by love until the end. Fans and fellow musicians have flocked to share their tributes to the Prince of Darkness, including his former bandmates.
Tony had known Ozzy since they met at school in Aston, Birmingham and went on their wild journey to fame together. They remained best friends for 57 years, and now Tony is trying to come to terms with Ozzy no longer being there.
"It's been difficult, because it's just a shock really. I haven't been able to get myself organised properly since hearing this. It's been really strange," he said.
Tony explained he has been talking to fellow Black Sabbath star Geezer Butler, who expressed similar feelings. "He's much the same, just can't pull yourself together. It really has affected us bad," he admitted.
"I find it difficult at the moment to really accept that. I still think he's there, I still go to text him and stuff - [but] he's not there anymore."
The band came together just over two weeks ago for Ozzy's Back to the Beginning concert in their hometown. Despite his health, Ozzy remained committed to returning to the stage for a final time.
"We'd rehearse and then Ozzy came down - but we didn't want to do too much with Oz because he was under a lot of pressure," Tony explained. "And he really wanted to do it, but at the same time, we didn't want to push him into 'let's do that again'.
"But I'm glad we did it, and I'm glad we did it for Oz because it really did motivate him." Tony shared how the concert gave Ozzy something to focus on and "work towards".
Tony told the BBC:"It was really worth doing for all of us, for the band to be together on our final thing, not knowing Ozzy was gonna pass away shortly afterwards, but just to get together again because we've been trying to get the original four back for years."
Ozzy played his epic farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham just over two weeks before his death. He was joined by huge stars across rock at his Back to the Beginning concert, where he took to the stage as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath for one last time.
It saw him raise "a ton of money" for charity as Guns N' Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler all performed.
Ozzy's death was announced by his devastated family, with a statement telling fans: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.
"He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis."
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