“It Just Seems Unreal”: Tony Iommi Breaks Silence on Ozzy Osbourne’s Death, Recalls Final Message and Farewell Show
The Black Sabbath guitarist opens up about Ozzy’s final days, their last conversation, and the haunting timing of it all.
Tony Iommi, the co-founder and legendary guitarist of Black Sabbath, has spoken publicly for the first time since the death of his longtime bandmate and friend, Ozzy Osbourne — a loss he says still feels “unreal.”
In an emotional interview with ITV, Iommi revealed that he had received a text from Ozzy just one day before his passing, adding an eerie, heartbreaking weight to the news that shocked the world.
“It was a shock for us,” Iommi admitted, his voice heavy with grief. “When I heard … it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seems unreal, surreal. In the night, I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’”
The timing of Ozzy’s death — just weeks after his triumphant farewell performance in their shared hometown of Birmingham, England — has left Iommi reeling. The two reunited one last time during Back to the Beginning, a historic concert that marked the end of Ozzy’s live career and his decades-long saga as one of rock’s most iconic figures.
According to Iommi, the show had taken a toll on Ozzy.
“He didn’t look well behind the scenes,” he said quietly. “I think he really just held out to do that show. And just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”
Iommi paused, then added, “I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was going to die — of what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it. He was determined. And fair dues — he’d done it.”
The Birmingham show had been more than a concert. It was a bookend, a return to the very soil where Black Sabbath was born, and where Ozzy’s voice first tore through darkness to help invent heavy metal. Fans described the night as powerful and emotionally overwhelming, but few knew just how much Ozzy was suffering behind the curtain.
“He couldn’t rehearse for very long,” Iommi continued. “We all knew his health was not great. But Ozzy — he powered through. You could see the toll, but you could also see how much it meant to him.”
Despite the difficulty, Ozzy reportedly told Iommi afterward that he was proud of the performance, even if it had left him physically depleted.
“He told me it drained him,” Iommi said. “Left him really low on energy. But he was satisfied. He’d done it. He gave the fans everything he had left. And that’s Ozzy, isn’t it? He lived for the stage — and he left it on his own terms.”
For Iommi, the text message Ozzy sent the day before his death has now become a cherished, bittersweet memory — a final connection to a friend of over five decades.
“He was just saying thanks for the messages, talking about the show, just a little back-and-forth. Nothing heavy. And now … now I keep reading it back, wondering if there was more in it that I missed.”
As tributes pour in from around the world — from fans, musicians, and peers — Iommi’s words stand out not only for their honesty, but for their quiet intimacy. This was not just the loss of a bandmate. This was the end of a lifelong bond, forged in smoky clubs and studios, forged on the road and in recovery — forged in music that changed the world.
“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and he’ll still be there,” Iommi said. “Still laughing, still cracking jokes. But he’s gone. And there’ll never be another like him.”
