Ozzy Osbourne’s son has opened up about his father’s final years in a touching new interview.
In an in-depth conversation with Rolling Stone, Jack reflected on Ozzy’s memoir, documentary, farewell concert, and more.
Ozzy’s memoir Last Rites arrived posthumously, offering a haunting and revelatory glimpse into the Prince of Darkness’s tumultuous final years.
Completed shortly before his death in July, the book serves as a follow-up to his 2010 memoir I Am Ozzy and provides unprecedented insight into the heavy metal legend’s painful last chapter.
When asked why it was important for Ozzy to write the memoir, Jack replied: “I think he wrote it partially to clear away some speculation about this, that, and the other. Also, he wrote it just to set the record straight: ‘Yeah, I’ve been sick but don’t feel sorry for me, and this is the life.…’ He had no regrets. He has had such a blessed life, such a journey, and I think he wanted to share that in his own words.”
Jack continued: “It was interesting to see what he put in the book from the last six and seven years. Everyone always wonders when you read a biography of someone, ‘How accurate is that?’ I can honestly say with this book, it really is his stream of consciousness over this last period of time.
“I was reading it and I’m going through a chapter, and it starts with a story, and then he goes off on a tangent and then he comes back, and it is so spot on to how his thought process was. I think it has a real personal touch to it because of that.”
On Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s ‘Back to the Beginning’ concert, Jack said it was “powerful in a way that was surprising.”
“There was a divine perfection to it all in a weird way. It was a full stop. I mean, he saw people he hadn’t seen in 30 years. He got to see friends and fans and just be in his hometown, and it was just wild and really moving,” he added.
Jack also revealed what Ozzy told him about his farewell concert.
“He was so happy,” he said. “Since he got sick, he became a bit of a social media junkie. He was on Instagram; he was on TikTok; he had YouTube, because he was relatively stationary, so he did a lot of social media scrolling. It was the first time he’d done a gig and then got to see direct response on social media.
“So every morning he would wake up in England, and you’d get tabloid newspapers, and every day of the week following was some big spread in one of the British newspapers. He just really got a kick out of seeing all the great reviews and all the posts online. He was so stoked. I’m like, ‘Dad, all these reviews are amazing.’ And he goes, ‘A lot of fucking good that does me. I’ve retired.'”
Amongst other things, Ozzy’s memoir reveals with brutal honesty his struggles with addiction, which continued to plague him even in his final years. After achieving sobriety, he began drinking again in 2012, admitting: “At some point I decided I could handle a drink. Probably a pint of Guinness. I dream about Guinness almost every night. I fucking love the stuff, it’s like drinking a glass of pudding.”
Last Rites also captures encounters with rock legends including Keith Moon, Bon Scott, and Steve Marriott, alongside revealing anecdotes about Van Halen’s David Lee Roth and Ozzy’s obsession with Peter Gabriel’s So album in 1986.
