Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath performance was ‘mindblowing’, son says

The son of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, Louis Osbourne, has described the band’s final appearance as “mindblowing”.

Posting to his Facebook page on Sunday, the Birmingham resident spoke of his father’s “emotional” performance – referencing the 76-year-old’s Parkinson’s disease.

He wrote: “The audience showed him all the love that you’d expect and him back to them. An emotional end to a phenomenal 57 year career.”

Ozzy was joined by the full original Sabbath line-up for the first time in 20 years in Birmingham for what the band said was their last ever show.

The event included metal and rock legends Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

Louis wrote: “I don’t really know where to start about the show yesterday. It was hugely emotional for us.

“I was sobbing at times. It was everything we wanted it to be and more. I had been anxious for months about this as I’ve been worried about my dad’s ability to perform with his Parkinson’s disease.

“I just wanted it to be a dignified send off for him. But as soon as he started singing we knew he was gonna nail it.”

Ozzy sang while seated on a black throne in front of 40,000 fans.

His son said: “I know he was frustrated as you could see he wanted to get up and tear up the stage like old times. But he did great.

“Just perfect. I then sat in his dressing room and witnessed him meeting Axl Rose for the first time and Axl telling him how much he inspired him. Then James Hetfield thanking him for everything and how he had shaped his entire career.”

Louis said Ozzy seemed “unfazed” by the interactions and when asking the rock legend if he had a good time, he responded with “yeah”.

Louis said he ended the night by stopping at the house where his dad grew up in the city, finishing the post with: “You couldn’t write it! My pride and love are off the scale. What a day! Mindblowing!”

Black Sabbath roadie Graham Wright told BBC Radio WM how the atmosphere was behind the scenes, as he watched the show from the back of the stage.

He said: “All four of them were 150% up for it. It was incredible – it was goosebump time. I was lost for words.

“Ozzy was great. After the show in the dressing room, there was hugging and tears. It was wonderful.

Elsewhere in the city, some pubs had to turn away customers after running out of beer – while others hit full capacity sooner than they thought.

David Longmate, the owner of well known rock bar Subside, called the experience “mental”.

He said: “That was by far the busiest weekend we have had in our 18-year history.

“We did a one out, one in policy virtually all day and night. We hit capacity on Friday night for the masses of fans attending the Sabbath pre-show.

“We were packed from 4pm on Friday until 4am on Saturday.”

He told the BBC the bar ran out of draft beer by 03:30 BST on Saturday, but they were able to restock by Sunday, adding: “We were so busy trying to make sure everyone was safe and getting served – it was absolutely mental.”

Meanwhile The Flapper, a well-known rock pub and music venue, had to turn away customers during their live stream of the concert..

Manager Sam Campbell told the BBC: “The Sabbath show was a great boost for The Flapper – it was great at highlighting Brum independents and music venues.

“We had to close our doors early evening due to being at capacity for the live stream – and ran out of a few beer brands.

“The vibes were immaculate and the party continued into the early hours after the livestream had finished.

“Was nice to have Birmingham on the map for the weekend.”