Ozzy Osbourne guitarist reveals touching final text from singer

USA Today

4 days ago

Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist is opening up about the touching last conversation he had with the Black Sabbath singer.
In an interview with Guitar World, Zakk Wylde, who served as guitarist for Osbourne, detailed the final text he received from the rock icon before the singer died earlier this month. Wylde performed during Osbourne's Back to the Beginning farewell concert on July 5, and according to the guitarist, Osbourne reached out to him after the show.
"Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break," Wylde said. "I figured we'd see him later on – the next day or whatever. But no. The last text I got from Oz was saying, 'Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn't see you.' He goes, 'Thanks for everything.' It was just us talking, saying, 'I love you, buddy.' That was it."
Rock star Ozzy Osbourne dies at 76, weeks after final Black Sabbath show
Wylde, who worked with Osbourne beginning in the 1980s, reflected that the singer was "almost like an older brother" to him. "There was almost a 20-year age gap between us," he told the outlet. "With our relationship, there was the fun drinking – but if I ever needed advice, I could talk to him."
Wylde also told Guitar World that his priority with Osbourne's farewell show was "making sure that Oz was okay." The concert was the last time the two saw each other.
Black Sabbath bassist reflects on rehearsing with 'frail' Ozzy Osbourne for farewell show
Osbourne died on July 22, just weeks after the performance. He was 76.
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who also performed during the farewell show, previously reflected on playing with Osbourne for the last time in an essay for The Sunday Times.
Butler wrote that he "wasn't prepared to see how frail he was" when he and Osbourne began rehearsing for the July 5 show, noting that "he was helped into the rehearsal room by two helpers and a nurse and was using a cane" and "was really quiet compared with the Ozzy of old." The bassist also shared that he wishes he "had more time backstage with Ozzy," as he "didn't realize then that I would never see Ozzy again after that night."
"Nobody knew he'd be gone from us little more than two weeks after the final show," Butler wrote in The Sunday Times. "But I am so grateful we got to play one last time together in front of his beloved fans."