{"id":64778,"date":"2025-10-10T00:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T00:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/64778\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T00:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T00:46:09","slug":"jack-osbourne-looks-back-on-the-pain-and-joy-of-ozzys-final-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/64778\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Osbourne Looks Back on the Pain and Joy of Ozzy’s Final Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tGrowing up, Jack Osbourne<\/a> felt like he had to share his dad with the world. \u201cHe was always touring,\u201d Ozzy\u2019s youngest son, 39, tells Rolling Stone over Zoom from his Los Angeles home on Tuesday. \u201cI really feel like it was in adulthood that we got to know each other, doing [the travel TV series] World Detour<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough MTV\u2019s reality show The Osbournes<\/a> displayed a tight bond between father and son, World Detour, which aired for three seasons between 2016 and 2018, gave Jack the opportunity to spend true quality time with the man who helped invent heavy metal with Black Sabbath and went on to greater fame as a solo artist.<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cI remember having these thoughts when we were doing it and being like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m so lucky I got to do this with him,’\u201d he says of the show, which found the tourist duo visiting American landmarks and curiosities. \u201cI was so lucky, in the sense that I got him in his last good years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOzzy severely injured his neck after a fall at home in 2019. That accident, along with complications due to Parkinson\u2019s disease and other ailments, formed a shadow over the rest of his life, forcing him to postpone and cancel tour dates while he recovered. He performed his final concert as a solo artist and Black Sabbath\u2019s singer, at Back to the Beginning<\/a>, a blowout charity-concert extravaganza in his hometown of Birmingham, England, on July 5 of this year. The singer, whose music inspired Metallica, Guns N\u2019 Roses, Slayer, and countless other metal bands who performed at the festival, died weeks later<\/a>, on July 22, prompting worldwide tributes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tA new book written by Ozzy, Last Rites<\/a>, and a documentary on Paramount+, Ozzy: No Escape From Now<\/a>, chronicle how hard the artist worked to recover from his injuries so he could make it to Back to the Beginning.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe singer completed Last Rites days before his death. In his own inimitable language, he details the pain his injuries caused him, as well as the love he felt from his family and fans in his final years, all while reflecting on how he stared down death many times in the past, from the devastating loss of guitarist Randy Rhoads to bidding farewell to friends like Led Zeppelin\u2019s John Bonham. He also reflects on how the Back to the Beginning concert, and the outpouring of love that followed, warmed his heart.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen [Dad] passed, we were like, \u2018Well, do we go forward [with the book]?’\u201d Jack says. \u201cI think we all collectively were like, \u2018Well, he wanted the book to come out.\u2019 That was something he was working towards and right up until two days before he passed, and so it felt wrong to hold off on the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe producers of Ozzy: No Escape From Now began work on the documentary during the making of Osbourne\u2019s final album, 2022\u2019s Patient Number 9, filming him as he recorded the songs and made comeback appearances at England\u2019s 2022 Commonwealth Games<\/a> through the Back to the Beginning concert. \u201c[The doc] feels like Rocky III when he loses everything and he\u2019s trying to fight to get it all back,\u201d Jack says. \u201cIt\u2019s a great insight into the lead-up to that final show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the course of a candid and emotional interview, Jack reflects on the impact Ozzy had on him throughout his life, as well as how he, his mom, Sharon, and sisters, Aim\u00e9e and Kelly, have been handling the tragic loss.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow are you holding up these days?
It\u2019s just weird. I think that\u2019s just a common reaction when losing any parent, but I think I\u2019m doing OK. Having kids and getting back into the school routine just forces me to focus on \u201cAll right. Let\u2019s keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m sure that\u2019s what Ozzy would want, too.
Oh, yeah. One hundred percent. The amount of times I could just hear him going, \u201cWhat are you all crying for?\u201d is endless. He would think this is all so ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tHow has the family been supporting one another?
I was in England for three or four weeks and came back to L.A. about a month after he passed. Mom and Kelly are in England; Aim\u00e9e and I are here in L.A. So it\u2019s just a lot of checking in with each other daily and rolling through the emotions of it all. Just knowing that, hey, someone else is feeling similar to the way I do \u2014 meaning my sisters or my mom \u2014 is so helpful.<\/p>\n

\n\tOzzy definitely didn\u2019t want people to feel sorry for him. Why do you think it was important to him to write the book and explain the challenges he faced after the accident?
I think he wrote it partially to clear away some speculation about this, that, and the other. Also, he wrote it just to set the record straight: \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve been sick but don\u2019t feel sorry for me, and this is the life.\u2026\u201d He had no regrets. He has had such a blessed life, such a journey, and I think he wanted to share that in his own words.<\/p>\n

\n\tI know the family struggled with whether to release the book. It must be difficult for you to unveil this chronicle of the past six years. Was it hard to relive that time by reading it?
It was interesting to see what he put in the book from the last six and seven years. Everyone always wonders when you read a biography of someone, \u201cHow accurate is that?\u201d I can honestly say with this book, it really is his stream of consciousness over this last period of time. I was reading it and I\u2019m going through a chapter, and it starts with a story, and then he goes off on a tangent and then he comes back, and it is so spot on to how his thought process was. I think it has a real personal touch to it because of that.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat struck you while reading his account of his health struggles?
There was some stuff that I would\u2019ve liked him to have gone a little bit deeper into with the health stuff, but to be honest with you, I think the reason why he didn\u2019t go deeper is because he was just so fucking tired of it. The one thing that I think comes across, though, was how important it was for him to do that last show.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was the experience of the Back to the Beginning concert like for you?
I got up there a couple of days early. I saw them soundcheck. It was powerful in a way that was surprising. I knew it was going to be a hard day for the whole family, especially him, and so, like, and I said on GMA<\/a>, it was like a living wake. There was a divine perfection to it all in a weird way. It was a full stop. I mean, he saw people he hadn\u2019t seen in 30 years. He got to see friends and fans and just be in his hometown, and it was just wild and really moving.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat did Ozzy tell you about the experience for him?
He was so happy. Since he got sick, he became a bit of a social media junkie. He was on Instagram; he was on TikTok; he had YouTube, because he was relatively stationary, so he did a lot of social media scrolling. It was the first time he\u2019d done a gig and then got to see direct response on social media.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo every morning he would wake up in England, and you\u2019d get tabloid newspapers, and every day of the week following was some big spread in one of the British newspapers. He just really got a kick out of seeing all the great reviews and all the posts online. He was so stoked. I\u2019m like, \u201cDad, all these reviews are amazing.\u201d And he goes, \u201cA lot of fucking good that does me. I\u2019ve retired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the book, he explains how much therapy and hard work he put into preparing for the concert. That concert must have felt like a victory to him.
It was huge for him. And he was frustrated he couldn\u2019t get out the chair, but I think all things considered, he did a great fucking job.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatching him sing \u201cMama, I\u2019m Coming Home\u201d was incredibly emotional. Did he tell you anything about that?
The only thing he said to me was like, \u201cOh, I fucking started losing it in \u2018Mama, I\u2019m Coming Home.’\u201d And my response was, \u201cWell, everyone was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did the family keep his spirits up since his accident?
I think he felt purposeful whenever he was working, whenever he was doing an album with Andrew [Watt] or working with [friend and guitarist] Billy Morrison or doing the podcast with us<\/a>. It would be tough during these long periods where he either wasn\u2019t working towards something or he was in between things. He would start to just get low.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe loved working. So when he wasn\u2019t, he wasn\u2019t his best self. But there would always be someone at the house, either me and the kids or Kelly and Aim\u00e9e. We would visit him as much as we could and try and get him to come out occasionally. But he liked his routine. He got into the vibe of just being at home, which was a blessing and a curse; if you tried to mess up that routine, he didn\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

\n\tI ended up moving back in for a period. I was between houses, and it was just easier for me to move in with them for six months, and he was in a good spot then, because he couldn\u2019t be miserable. It was just a house full of kids.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOzzy and Jack in New York in the early 1990s<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRon Galella\/Ron Galella Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen was he happiest?
When certain friends would visit, he\u2019d be very, very happy. When we would have a big dinner at the house. He wasn\u2019t always happy, but I have memories of him laughing a lot. I\u2019ve got some memories of him laughing pretty hard over some very inappropriate jokes. A dick-in-the-mouth joke that would get him going.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did his personality change since the accident?
Just because the pace of life slowed down so much for him, he was a lot quieter. I think slowing down put things into perspective for him a little bit more. In some ways, he was a lot more present. But even though he was quieter, he would still blare music at 10 billion decibels, but it was a different version of himself.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was the music he was blasting?
He would play the most random shit. He went through a deep Michael Jackson phase at one point, and he went through a heavy Eighties phase. He always would play Peter Gabriel.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd the shitty thing is \u2014 one of the things that bums me out the most about the whole fucking Roger Waters bullshit<\/a> \u2014 is that he was always playing Pink Floyd. Fucking asshat how that guy is. I think it\u2019s just jealousy. It\u2019s like, \u201cDude, when you die, they might just do a cheers at the local pub.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I was reading about all the surgeries he had to get, especially how the first one caused him more problems, I got angry. How does the family feel about all of that now?
It\u2019s an anger that I\u2019ve had for so long. It\u2019s the blessing and the curse of the L.A. doctor: You get great doctors in this city, but they don\u2019t want to be the doctor that fucked someone up, so they will never give it to you straight. What I noticed with my dad in the medical world was, like, the doctors were almost too scared to be honest with the surgeries.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere were a couple doctors that were really great, but it really all went downhill from that first surgery, and that one doctor should never have done the surgery the way he did it. It just set the wheels in motion for a really tough stretch for my dad. And then you put Covid in, and it was just, yeah \u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEveryone was just hoping like, \u201cOh, this surgery, this\u2019ll be the one that fixes him. This\u2019ll be the one that fixes him,\u201d but there was just so much damage done from that first one it was hard to dig out of the hole.<\/p>\n

\n\tA few years ago, your mom said<\/a> she wanted to sue that doctor. Is that still in the works?
I\u2019ve been saying from the jump that we should have done it immediately, but I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s one of those things where you look at it and you\u2019re like, \u201cOK, yeah, you could sue this doctor or whoever, but it\u2019s not going to bring [Dad] back. It\u2019s not going to fix him.\u201d Yeah, it lets everyone know that that doctor\u2019s an asshole, but I guess if I had a magic wand, I probably would\u2019ve done it five years ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow is your mom coping with everything these days?
She\u2019s OK, but she\u2019s not OK. It\u2019s ups and downs. She\u2019s just trying to figure out where to go from here, how to navigate, what\u2019s the new norm, what\u2019s the new baseline, \u201cWhat do I do without my person?\u201d But she\u2019s got a lot of love and support around her. I\u2019m bringing her back to L.A. this week. Actually, I\u2019m flying over to England tomorrow, because it\u2019s her birthday on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, yeah, we must keep moving forward. You even said it yourself: He hated people feeling sorry for him, and he always wanted to keep moving forward.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the funeral, we sat at home and everyone was just having a tough morning, and I opened up my phone and a video popped into my feed, and it was my dad on David Letterman<\/a> a week after Randy [Rhoads] had passed, and David Letterman asked him, \u201cI\u2019m surprised you came. You\u2019ve been going through it right now.\u201d My dad\u2019s response is \u201cI\u2019m about rock & roll, and I\u2019ve got to keep moving forward, and I\u2019ve got a job to do.\u201d And I held it up. I was like, \u201cSee, he\u2019s telling us. Got to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the things that struck me about the documentary was just how strong your parents\u2019 bond was right up until the end.
Yeah. And that\u2019s what I said about the blessing and the curse of him getting injured and slowing down. I think it really helped reinforce their relationship. It\u2019s no secret they\u2019d gone through their own problems, and I think it just helped really just heal a lot of stuff in a way. The upside, if there is any in the last seven years, is that we got a lot of time with him.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you see your dad\u2019s legacy?
With a lot of musicians, they become the rock star \u2014 and he certainly did \u2014 but I think he always did it with the air of \u201cThis could all go away tomorrow.\u201d I think his legacy too is that he didn\u2019t just stay one thing. He was able to take risks and change and grow with the times. There\u2019s not a decade that he wasn\u2019t making an impact, and I\u2019m not just saying that. It\u2019s just fact.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn the book\u2019s last chapter, your dad wrote, \u201cI\u2019ve had a loud life. I\u2019m ready for some quiet now.\u201d Do you think he meant it?
One hundred percent. I remember a conversation I had with him where he turned around, he looked at me, and he went, \u201cI think I\u2019m going to grow a beard. I\u2019m going to cut my hair off.\u201d And I was like, \u201cWhat?\u201d And he\u2019s like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m not a rock star anymore.\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh, fuck off.\u201d He\u2019d look like a hipster from Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you think he saw his own legacy?
I don\u2019t think he saw it as a legacy. I think that was almost too grandiose for him to look back and go, \u201cOh, look at my legacy.\u201d I think he was such a day-to-day kind of person. But after the show, it was such a big deal for him. And when he felt all that love and saw all these musicians just paying him so much respect, I think he felt complete with his legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growing up, Jack Osbourne felt like he had to share his dad with the world. \u201cHe was always…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,47280,409,5521,47281],"class_list":{"0":"post-64778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-jack-osbourne","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-ozzy-osbourne","14":"tag-the-osbournes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}