Tony Iommi Recalls Final Conversation With Ozzy Osbourne

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has recalled his final conversation with Ozzy Osbourne, speaking about the phone call they shared the night before the frontman’s death.

Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22 of last year. The loss came just weeks after his Back To The Beginning retirement celebration, which took place at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham.

Tony Iommi Details Final Phone Call With Ozzy

Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath performing onstage in 2016. (Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Speaking to Loudwire Nights, Iommi shared what passed between them during their last ever phone conversation. “I spoke to him the night before he passed,” Iommi said. “He said to me, ‘I really feel tired and really worn out’. I said, ‘Well, you’re bound to really, it’s been a lot of stress and pressure and stuff like that’. And the next thing, the next day, gone.”

Iommi admitted that he has struggled to accept the loss, noting that at times he still feels his former bandmate’s presence. “It still feels like he’s there,” he shared.

Reflecting on the Back To The Beginning Concert

While the Back To The Beginning celebration was a huge success that fans and artists on the bill were thrilled to be part of, Iommi revealed it was difficult for him to see Osbourne performing from a seated position after decades of explosive stage energy.

“It was difficult because seeing Ozzy sitting in a throne is not the way I see him,” Iommi explained. “Always when we’ve been on stage, he’s been running around, and he’d run up to Geezer and pull a face jokingly and come over to me and pull a face or the drummer or whatever. We always had a little laugh on stage and enjoy when he’d run about.”

He added, “But at Back To The Beginning, of course, he’s in a throne, and I couldn’t see him, which felt very unusual. But it was a great moment, and I’m really glad we could get the opportunity to do it, because I mean, God, we didn’t know he was going to go that quick.”