Tony Iommi has spoken for the first time since news of Ozzy Osbourne’s death broke on Tuesday. In a lengthy interview with ITV, the guitarist talked, movingly, about his shock at his bandmate’s seemingly sudden passing and about what happened immediately after the Back To The Beginning gig on 5 July.
"It was a shock for us," Iommi told the broadcaster. "I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And it really didn’t sink in. And in the night, I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’ But as I said before, he’s not looked well through the rehearsals.
"I think he really just held out to do that show. I really feel – and me and Geezer were talking about it last night – that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”
The show – which saw Ozzy perform five songs with his own band and then four with Sabbath – will never be forgotten. Certainly, it’s unlikely such an incredible bill of rock and metal artists will be assembled in the same place ever again. According to Iommi, the band themselves were quietly pleased after their performance.
"Well, he went to his dressing room and I went to mine and Geez went to his and so on," says Iommi. "And then he came over. He came around before he was leaving on a wheelchair that brought him in to say goodbye and have a little chat for a bit. And he seemed all right. He enjoyed it. And he said, ‘Oh, it went all right, didn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it did.’
"But as I say, when I had the text off him the day before yesterday saying he’s tired and he’s really got no energy. And I thought, ‘Oh, dear.’ ‘Cause it’s a lot for him to do that under the problems he’s got.
"And we could see it in rehearsal. We didn’t want him there every day at rehearsal, because it’s too much. He just wouldn’t be able to stand it. So they’d bring him in and he’d sit down and sing a few songs, and then we’d talk about some rubbish old times or whatever, have a laugh, and then he’d go. And that’s sort of what we did, really.”
Knowing that the band managed to do that gig before his passing has been some compensation, Iommi said. “I’m really glad we did it. It was a final thing for everybody. If we hadn’t have done it, people couldn’t have seen the band and Ozzy and it would have been a shame.”
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