Ozzy Osbourne wrote openly about death and his wishes for a final resting place just weeks before he died on July 22.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, Last Rites, due October 7, the Black Sabbath frontman described his July 5 concert at Villa Park in Birmingham as his “last hurrah.” He admitted that after years of health struggles, including a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, he felt death was closer than ever.
“Death’s been knocking at my door for the last six years, louder and louder,” he writes in the excerpt published by The Times. “And at some point I’m gonna have to let him in.
“The funny thing is, I used to worry more about my mortality when I was younger. It’s weird. You get closer to the end — the very thing you were scared of your whole life — and suddenly the weight’s lifted off you.
“Not that I’m ready to go. But I’ve had a good run. I think I made a mark on the world. And I’m glad I didn’t check out early, like so many others.”
The rock legend also shared that he did not want to be cremated and had discussed being buried with his wife, Sharon. He noted, however, that his family discouraged him from speaking about death or what he wanted on his tombstone.
It was not the first time Osbourne had raised the subject. In his 2009 memoir I Am Ozzy, he said he hoped to be buried “in a nice garden somewhere” with a crab apple tree planted above him, and joked that his gravestone might read: “Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948, died whenever. He bit the head off a bat.”
The singer was laid to rest on his Buckinghamshire estate beside a lake, according to The Sun. Photos shared by his family showed a floral wreath at the site reading, “Ozzy fucking Osbourne.”
“Ozzy wanted his final place of rest to be at home, and he is buried at a beautiful point on the lake,” a source told the outlet.
In related news, Richie Kotzen is one of several electric guitar players who have come forth with stories about their auditions with Ozzy. Meanwhile, Nuno Bettencourt shared the reason why he rejected Ozzy’s offer to become his guitarist in the mid 1990s, despite his dream of taking over from Randy Rhoads when the guitar legend died in 1982.
In addition, producer and guitarist Andrew Watt — who produced the metal legend’s last two albums — recently told Rolling Stone that Ozzy was “normal” the day before he died and hinted at unused songs in the vault from their sessions together. He also shared Osbourne’s wisdom about the important ingredients every rock song needs.
