Latest news with #Paul McCartney
Daily Mail
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
How Ozzy Osbourne was inspired by Paul McCartney until his final days: Black Sabbath star shared hopes of 'dream' collaboration with Beatles star weeks before his death and asked for band's track to be played at his funeral
Given he was part of one of heavy metal's biggest bands, it's no surprise that Ozzy Osbourne would be the inspiration for many music stars. But the rocker himself had previously shared a more unlikely name as one of his idols, in the form of iconic Beatles hitmaker Sir Paul McCartney. The pair first met and posed for a photo together in 2001, and joined a slew of stars on-stage for The Queen's Golden Jubilee concert the following year. But Ozzy, who died on Tuesday at the age of 76, shared how The Beatles were his inspiration for launching a music career, and as recently as last month, he said Paul, 83, would be his 'dream' collaboration. Despite their vastly different music styles, Ozzy said that hearing one of The Beatles' songs that helped him decide 'what he wanted to do with his life.' Speaking in an interview for Homes for Children's End The Silence charity campaign in 2017, Ozzy said the moment came while listening to The Beatles' 1962 hit She Loves You. He said: 'I remember exactly where I was walking down a road called Whitten Road in Aston. I had a blue transistor radio, and when [She Loves You] came on, I knew from then on what I wanted to do in my life.' Ozzy also covered The Beatles' 1965 track In My Life in his 2005 album Prince Of Darkness. He and Paul finally met for the first time in 2001 while backstage at the Howard Stern show, with Ozzy rushing to embrace him before admitting it was a 'lifetime ambition' to meet him. The moment was captured in Paul's documentary The Love We Make, which depicted his journey through a recovering New York in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In a clip from the sweet moment, Ozzy told Paul: 'It's great to meet you man, it's been a lifetime ambition of mine, you guys made me start music.' Ozzy later recalled the meeting on The Osbournes podcast, where he said: 'I'm a big Beatles fan and when I first met Paul McCartney, it was like meeting Jesus Christ. And he was a very nice man, a very nice man.' The pair then met again in 2008 when Ozzy and Sharon hosted the Brit Awards, together and Paul performed during the ceremony, and he described it as 'the most special' experience. Ozzy later revealed a kind gesture from Paul when he won a Grammy award, sharing the 'very, very special' moment he followed him up on stage to congratulate him. As recently as last month, Ozzy had shared his hopes of collaborating with Sir Paul McCartney on a track. He previously tried to get Paul to record a bass part on the heavy metal band's track, which he declined. Appearing on his SiriusXM show Ozzy Speaks, the singer revealed he still dreamt about being on a song with the Let It Be hitmaker. When asked by co-host Billy Morrison who he'd like to duet with, to which he replied: 'Paul McCartney.' But Ozzy quickly added: 'I would be honoured but I couldn't…' The singer has previously spoken about the iconic band from Liverpool being a huge influence on him since he was a young man. He once told Heat magazine of their failed collaboration: 'Meeting Paul McCartney was f****** phenomenal. 'I was in the studio at the same time as him and tried to get him to play bass on one of my songs. 'But he said he couldn't improve on the bassline that was there. I said, 'Are you kidding? You could p*** on the record and I'd make it my life.'' When asked about his funeral song, Ozzy insisted he would want a Beatles number being played rather than any of his own music on the day. 'I really need a few more years to think this over, but probably something from 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Revolver,' he told NME in 2016. 'I definitely don't want my f**king greatest hits album - I never ever play that thing, I'm f**king embarrassed about it. And I definitely don't want a f**king happy song - I'm dead.' Ozzy, nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, died on Tuesday at the age of 76 just weeks after he took to the stage for his final show with Black Sabbath, with his family confirming the devastating news. MailOnline revealed yesterday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours. Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon may now bury Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral, as she is 'too frail' to go through a larger, public service, leaving friends 'terrified' for her. Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park Stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death. The rocker reunited with his original Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the first time since 2005 to bid an emotional farewell to his decades of performing live on stage. After selling out in minutes, over 42,000 fans packed into Villa Park for the aptly-titled Back to the Beginning show, which saw Ozzy and Black Sabbath return to their hometown - 56 years after they formed there. The final photograph of him before his death was taken on stage as he sat on a black throne aptly decorated with a bat to perform his best-known hits for his loyal fans. His final words on stage were: 'It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.' A message on screen then read: 'Thank you for everything, you guys are f***ing amazing. Birmingham Forever,' before the sky lit up with fireworks.
ABC News
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne dies at the age of 76
MICHAEL ROWLAND, REPORTER: He was the black-clad, demon worshipping wild man of heavy metal, but Ozzy Osborne could not have been more obliging when photographer Tony Mott dropped by his Sydney hotel room in 1997. TONY MOTT, PHOTOGRAPHER: As soon as you put the camera on him, he lit up. He lit up in front of you. He did all that and all the metal, and it was all good. He had Ozzy tattooed on his knuckles. It was easy to get a portrait. MICHAEL ROWLAND: Things became even more cordial when the pair emerged into the light. TONY MOTT: We went outside, and I got shots of him on Sydney Harbour and I just come, a couple of years earlier, I toured with Paul McCartney and he was aware of that and he's a massive Beatles fan, and we spent 20, 30 minutes just discussing Paul McCartney and The Beatles. I can't emphasise what a lovely guy he was. He was really, really, really, really polite, very obliging, and he was Ozzy, a dead set legend. MICHAEL ROWLAND: Ozzy Osborne was also a dead set musical innovator. Black Sabbath burst on to the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1970 and the music world was never the same. PAUL CASHMERE, MUSIC JOURNALIST: And that first Black Sabbath album when it came out it was groundbreaking. That set the pattern for then what became hard rock music for decades after that. MICHAEL ROWLAND: Black Sabbath pioneered heavy metal music. Sure, there were the angry guitar riffs and foreboding beat but there was something about the band's frontman. A Black Sabbath concert was as much about the bone shaking music as it was Ozzy Osborne's outrageous stage antics. He paced, he growled. He was fond of throwing raw meat into the audience. And, of course, there was the bat. OZZY OSBOURNE: All I did was go out there and make a mistake of biting the head off a bat and I tell you what guys it ain't fun when you get them rabies shots. TONY MOTT: He was a born performer. It's performance. It wasn't just singing. Yeah, he was fantastic. It's really difficult to put into words because the best way to describe Ozzy Osborne is he's Ozzy bloody Osborne. That's who he is MICHAEL ROWLAND: Born John Michael Osborne in Birmingham in 1948, the future rock idol had a troubled childhood. He was sexually abused when he was 11 and spent time in jail for burglary offences. His demons spilled into his adult life and after Black Sabbath took off, so too did Osborne's drug and alcohol addictions. By 1979, Ozzy's erratic behaviour became too much for even his heavy metal bandmates, and he was sacked from the group. But there were two sides to this rock and roll beast. PAUL CASHMERE: But all of that legendary wild man image that Ozzy had, you had to then look at his family life and the loving father, the great husband. He was just marvellous to his kids. And when you have a look at the two sides of Ozzy, yes, he was the madman on stage, but when he came off stage, he was the average Birmingham bloke. MICHAEL ROWLAND: Ozzy Osborne's marriage to wife Sharon wasn't without its dark periods. In 1989, Osborne was arrested for attempting to murder Sharon while drunk. SHARON OSBORNE: He just said we've come to a decision that you've got to die, and then just suddenly he lunged across at me. MICHAEL ROWLAND: But the relationship endured, and in 2002 the singer's family life became the subject of a hit reality TV show. (Extract from The Osbornes) PAUL CASHMERE: Oh, look, the fact that we could see on a day-by-day basis how a rock star lived, it was just eye opening. MICHAEL ROWLAND: In later years and after a long period of sobriety, Osbourne admitted he had been drinking and taking drugs again. In 2020, he announced he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Along with the many tributes today from music industry giants, were these deeply personal messages from Ozzy's Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler who were there with the singer in Birmingham when it all began more than 35 years ago. And it was somewhat fitting Black Sabbath returned to Birmingham earlier this month to play what turned out to be Ozzy Osborne's final gig. VOX POP: He's had such an amazing career and he's clearly such a funny guy, he's enjoying it and it's fantastic. VOX POP 2: A little bit emotional actually. VOX POP 3: Yeah it's the end of an era. VOX POP 4: I have endless love for Ozzy and I sobbed the whole way through. PAUL CASHMERE: What a fantastic way to end. It was only four songs, but Ozzy also opened the show with a five-song solo set, and it was the swan song. No one was expecting what we heard today, but what a way to go out. TONY MOTT: If you're doing the top 30 of all time influential artists, et cetera, et cetera, Ozzy's in there. He wasn't the greatest singer by a long shot, but his voice was perfect for what Black Sabbath were, but yet he's up there amongst them without a doubt, and from a heavy metal point of view, it could be easy argued, he's number one.
