TONY IOMMI Claims OZZY OSBOURNE Was 'Barely Holding On' During Last Ever Black Sabbath Performance: 'He Didn't Look Well'

In his first public comments since Ozzy Osbourne’s death, Tony Iommi told ITV News the loss caught him off guard. Even though Ozzy’s health had clearly declined in recent months, Iommi didn’t expect things to end so soon (transcribed by LOUDLEGENDS.COM).

“Yeah, it was a shock for us to find out Ozzy had died. I mean, when I heard, I couldn’t process it,” Iommi said. “I thought, ‘No way.’ He sent me a message the day before. It all felt unreal. Surreal. That night I just kept thinking, ‘Am I dreaming this whole thing?’”

During rehearsals for Back to the Beginning, the final Black Sabbath concert, Iommi said Ozzy didn’t look great. “I think he pushed himself just to do that show,” he said. “Geezer and I were talking about it last night. We think he held on just for that. To say goodbye.”

Final Show Meant Everything

Iommi believes the farewell taking place in Birmingham, their hometown, gave the event emotional weight.

“Ozzy really worked hard. He’d been training, doing everything he could. That’s what he wanted. I think he had this idea in his head, like, ‘This is it. This is the last thing I’ll do.’ Whether he thought he’d die afterward, I don’t know. But he was absolutely committed. And he pulled it off. It felt like a dream. Next thing we knew, it was over. We were off stage. Like, ‘What just happened?’”

Ozzy’s Condition Backstage

Asked what Ozzy was like right after the performance, Iommi said, “He went to his dressing room. I went to mine. Geez went to his. That’s how it went. Then Ozzy came around in a wheelchair to say goodbye. We chatted a bit. He looked okay and said, ‘It all went well, didn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it did.’”

But Iommi knew Ozzy was exhausted.

“The day before, he’d messaged saying he was tired and had no energy. I thought, ‘Oh no.’ It was too much for him, considering everything. We saw that during rehearsals. We didn’t want him there every day, he wouldn’t have made it. So they’d bring him in, he’d sit, sing a few songs, we’d talk about old rough times or whatever, share a laugh, and then he’d leave. That’s how it was.”

No More Sabbath

Iommi made it clear: Black Sabbath is done.

“That event was our goodbye. That’s the end of the band. We won’t do it again,” he said. “Having Bill back on drums after all those years made it even more special. Hard to believe it’s been 20 years.”

Revisiting the Past

Rehearsals sparked a wave of nostalgia. “Yeah, we all thought about those early days,” Iommi said.

“We actually talked about it during practice. We’d sit on the couch and just remember things. You forget what happened yesterday, but you remember stuff from decades ago. We kept going, ‘Remember when we did this? Or that?’ It felt like being back in the early days again.”

“Having Bill there helped with that vibe. He hasn’t changed. We even joked with him, ‘Don’t take off your shirt, Bill (laughs).’”

Mixed Emotions Onstage

Asked whether Ozzy enjoyed being onstage, Iommi said it was complicated.

“I think he felt emotional, but also frustrated. He wanted to stand up. You could see him trying. But it meant everything to him. That was the moment we had prepared for. One last time to see the crowd, to be together. We didn’t think he’d go so soon. That part was a real shock.”

He added, “I’m glad we did it. It was a send-off for all of us. If we hadn’t done it, people wouldn’t have seen the band again. Or Ozzy. And that would’ve been a shame. At least they had one last chance.”

Remembering Ozzy

When asked how he’ll remember Ozzy, Iommi reflected on their long friendship.

“My God, we’ve known each other for so many years. I met him before anyone else in the band, we went to school together. He was always funny. Ozzy was Ozzy. There won’t be another. He was one of a kind. Said what he thought. We’d sometimes tell him, ‘Don’t say anything,’ but he’d do it anyway. Hilarious.”

“Even when we were playing serious music, he’d walk over and pull faces. The audience couldn’t see it, but I’d be cracking up. Then he’d do the same to Geezer. That’s the kind of guy he was, a real performer.”

His Place in Music

As for Ozzy’s legacy, Iommi kept it simple:

“He had a unique way about him. That was it. There’s no replacement. His antics, everything, we never knew what he was going to do next. It was always like, ‘What’s he gonna do now?’”

Back to the Beginning raised over $190 million for charity. A theatrical version of the concert will hit theaters later this year, with a home release planned for 2026.

Ozzy Osbourne & Tony Iommi

Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi have one of the most complicated and enduring relationships in rock history, part friendship, part creative partnership, part battlefield.

They first crossed paths not on stage, but at school in Birmingham. Iommi was the moody kid with the guitar, Ozzy the class clown.

No one could’ve guessed those two would later help invent a genre. But by 1968, they had formed Black Sabbath, unintentionally kickstarting what would become known as heavy metal. Ozzy’s unhinged charisma matched Iommi’s sinister riffing like beer goes with bad decisions.

The band’s rise was fast, loud, and chaotic. Albums like Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Vol. 4 turned them into pioneers. Iommi’s down-tuned guitar work set the tone, literally, for the genre. Ozzy’s voice, often imitated and never matched, became its strange, wailing soul. Together with Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, they were both creators and destroyers.

And yes, of course, it wasn’t all candles and devil horns. By 1979, Ozzy’s off-stage behavior had become too erratic, even for Sabbath. The band fired him. Iommi kept the name going with other singers, and Ozzy went solo, and somehow got even bigger.

Decades passed. They each had ups, downs, lawsuits, and reconciliation tours. There were public feuds, cold silences, and occasional studio sessions. Still, the connection never really broke. When they reunited for the 13 album in 2013, it wasn’t just a nostalgia trip. It was more like a full-circle moment, two guys who had defined metal finding their way back to the same stage.

Their final chapter together, Back to the Beginning, was fitting. Iommi saw Ozzy at his most vulnerable and his most determined.

No explosions, no antics, just a man who needed to finish what he started.

And Iommi, as always, right there next to him, guitar in hand.

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