Ozzy Osbourne's last performance weeks before his death is heartbreaking
23 July 2025, 18:29 | Updated: 24 July 2025, 13:26
The Rock legend bid farewell to fans in a powerful hometown show at Villa Park before passing away peacefully at 76.
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Ozzy Osbourne died at the age of 76, just weeks after a powerful final farewell performance in his home city of Birmingham.
The Black Sabbath frontman, who had battled Parkinson’s disease for several years, passed away peacefully at home in Buckinghamshire, surrounded by his family.
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Three weeks before his death on July 5, Osbourne took to the stage one last time at Villa Park—the heart of his beloved Aston Villa football club—for a concert aptly titled Back to the Beginning: Ozzy's Final Bow.
It was a triumphant and emotional homecoming, attended by tens of thousands of hard rock faithful who had followed his decades-long journey from factory worker to international metal icon.
Ozzy gave his final performance draped in black and seated upon a towering gothic throne carved with bats’ wings.
The setlist spanned his sprawling career—from Sabbath classics like 'Black Tongue,' 'Blood and Thunder,' and 'Electric Funeral,'—but it was 'Mama, I’m Coming Home' that stilled the crowd into silence.
The last song he'd ever perform, Ozzy delivered the haunting ballad to the emotional crowd, who lit up the stadium with phone torches and lighters in his honour.
“I don't know what to say, man, I've been laid up for like six years," he said, referring to his battle with Parkinson's.
"You have no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart," as he addressed his fans for what is now the final time.
Ozzy Osbourne - Mama, I'm Coming Home (Back to the Beginning 2025) #ozzyosbourne #blacksabbath #rock
As the crowd roared its farewell, it was a full-circle moment for a man who had risen from the backstreets of Birmingham to become a global icon.
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne was born on December 3, 1948, in Aston, one of six children crammed into a modest terraced house with no indoor toilet.
His early years were marked by poverty and back-breaking jobs, including stints at the local abattoir, but music offered him a way out.
In 1968, he joined forces with guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward to form Black Sabbath – a band that would change the face of music forever.
Their dark sound was a direct contrast to the flower power of the late '60s and laid the foundations for heavy metal.
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Their debut album, Black Sabbath, released in 1970, was the beginning of a new genre. Ozzy's magnetic stage presence helped catapult the band to international fame, even as his personal life grew increasingly chaotic.
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne on Gogglebox
Following his sacking from Sabbath in 1979 due to drug and alcohol abuse, Ozzy launched a solo career that improbably eclipsed his earlier fame.
Songs like 'Crazy Train' and 'Mr. Crowley' became solo hits, while antics like biting the head off a bat on stage cemented his status as one of music’s most outrageous figures.
Yet beyond the theatrics, Osbourne’s impact on music was undeniable. He sold over 100 million records across his career and remained a cult figure for successive generations of fans.
In the 2000s, Ozzy found a new kind of fame with his family as the stars of The Osbournes, a chaotic, expletive-laced reality show that brought heavy metal into suburban living rooms and turned the entire clan into household names.
Ozzy Osbourne died aged 76, just weeks after his farewell concert.
A statement from his children and wife Sharon Osbourne on Tuesday July 22 reads: "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."
