A few short weeks before his death, metal legend Ozzy Osbourne took the stage for his blockbuster farewell show in his hometown of Birmingham, England, and he reflected on the experience in his forthcoming memoir "Last Rites", which arrives this Tuesday, October 7th.
Billed as the Back to The Beginning concert, the special event featured Ozzy reuniting with the original lineup of Black Sabbath, as well as a solo set. The festival like concert also featured a who's who of heavy music taking the stage including Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Alice In Chains, Pantera and many, many more.
Ahead of the book release, The Times has shared an excerpt where Ozzy looks back on the monumental concert, "Coming on stage all I could think was, is my voice really up for this? But as soon as the curtain went up, I forgot about my nerves. Suddenly I was looking out over 42,000 faces, with another 5.8 million watching online.
"That was when the emotion really hit me. I'd never really taken it on board that so many people liked me - or even knew who I was. It was overwhelming, man, it really was.
"We got through 'I Don't Know', 'Mr Crowley' and 'Suicide Solution' no problem at all. I was having a ball. But I choked up when I started 'Mama, I'm Coming Home'. I mean, it's Sharon's song, y'know? One of her favorites. Lemmy wrote it with the two of us in mind.
"That alone was enough to bring tears to my eyes. But the feeling I had was about more than that. It was my last hurrah. I'd made it to the stage after six traumatic years, after losing the ability to walk or do anything on my own. It was just the whole thing, all of it coming together."
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