Sharon Osbourne returned to Birmingham on Tuesday to mark the city's first ever Ozzy Day, one year to the day since Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, at 76 years old. In a BBC local radio interview, she revealed something that had not been previously disclosed.
Two weeks before his Back to the Beginning farewell concert at Villa Park on July 5, 2025, Ozzy's doctors told him he was dying and urged him not to perform.
He ignored them.
"Ozzy knew that he was dying. He was told two weeks before the show that he was dying, and they said 'don't do the show,'" Sharon said. She described him as having been "so down, so depressed because he knew it was the end" and "so afraid that he wouldn't be able to sing."
The concert, a 10-hour event featuring Metallica, Guns N' Roses, the original Black Sabbath lineup and dozens more, turned out to be "an absolute joy" for him.
"He had been so down. But when he got up there and he saw all those people and the love that was coming to him, oh my god, it was just incredible for him," Sharon said. "It gave him so much joy."
She became emotional when asked why it mattered to her to be back in Birmingham. "Because I can't forget what Birmingham did for Ozzy."
On how fans should remember him: "As Ozzy would say, when you want to remember me, just yank up the music really loud, as loud as you can get it, and just head bang."