{"id":801810,"date":"2026-08-03T22:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T22:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801810\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T22:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T22:50:14","slug":"tony-iommi-reveals-ozzy-osbournes-final-text-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801810\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Iommi reveals Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s final text to him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Iommi says he never expected Ozzy Osbourne to die so soon<\/a>, despite years of watching his longtime friend battle serious health problems.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Black Sabbath electric guitar<\/a> riff master has reflected on the band\u2019s emotional farewell concert, revealed the contents of the final text message Osbourne sent him, and admitted he\u2019s still struggling to accept that his bandmate of nearly 60 years is gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect him to go overnight,\u201d Iommi says. \u201cBlimey. It was a hell of a shock, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Description\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Kevin Nixon\/Classic Rock Magazine)<\/p>\n

The two had been friends and collaborators since forming Black Sabbath in 1968, remaining close throughout their respective health battles and regularly checking in on one another.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Looking back on Black Sabbath\u2019s farewell performance, Iommi says the show felt unlike anything the band had experienced before.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the night, it felt very strange for me because obviously we\u2019d never been onstage with Ozzy in a throne before, sitting down,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was always jumping around, pulling faces, and making me and Geezer laugh. But on this occasion, I couldn\u2019t see him because he\u2019s in that throne at the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

With drummer Bill Ward back behind the kit for the first time in two decades, Iommi also spent much of the set standing closer to his longtime bandmate.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBill wanted me to stand back by him just because he was unsure of some bits. And so I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching the performance back has only made the experience more emotional. Although he knew Osbourne\u2019s health had been deteriorating, Iommi says he \u201cdidn\u2019t expect it to happen that quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also revealed the final exchange the pair shared before Osbourne\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

\u201cHe texted me the night before, funny enough, and said he weren\u2019t feeling great and so on. But obviously, most of our conversations to each other have been, \u2018How are you feeling? How\u2019s this? How\u2019s that?\u2019 And so it was just another conversation,\u201d Iommi recalls. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect him to go overnight. Blimey. It was a hell of a shock, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Ozzy\n<\/p>\n

Osbourne hugs Iommi as Black Sabbath performs at Apoteose Square, Rio de Janeiro, October 13, 2013. (Image credit: Nestor J. Beremblum\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

The guitarist says the pair leaned on one another throughout years of health struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did stay in touch a lot. And he was going through so many different things and constantly in and out of hospital and having this done and that done. And again, he stood by me when I was diagnosed with cancer. He called me every day. So we\u2019ve been supportive of each other. I do miss our conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Months after Osbourne\u2019s death, Iommi admits the loss still doesn\u2019t feel real.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really strange. I still don\u2019t feel like he\u2019s gone because when I look on YouTube or whatever, there\u2019s something to do with Ozzy, and I see him again and again,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like he\u2019s still here. It\u2019s really peculiar. Only we were in touch so many times. That\u2019s what I miss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iommi is preparing to release his first solo album<\/a> in 21 years. From the Dark arrives October 23 via BMG and features Norwegian vocalist J\u00f8rn Lande, Mercyful Fate bass<\/a> guitarist Becky Baldwin and former Robbie Williams drummer Karl Brazil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tony Iommi says he never expected Ozzy Osbourne to die so soon, despite years of watching his longtime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-801810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}