NEED TO KNOW
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Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde revealed what he told him in their final text conversation
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Osbourne died on July 22 at the age of 76
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The Prince of Darkness was the godfather of Wylde’s oldest son
Zakk Wylde revealed what Ozzy Osbourne told him in a final text message.
The rock icon’s longtime guitarist recalled the last time he spoke with Osbourne — who died on July 22 at the age of 76 — in an interview with Guitar World published on Tuesday, July 29.
According to Wylde, 58, the last time he received a text from the Prince of Darkness was after Black Sabbath’s final performance.
Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty
Zakk Wylde and Ozzy Osbourne in 1989
“Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break,” the Black Label Society musician recalled of the show at England’s Villa Park on July 5.
Wylde assumed he’d see Osbourne later on or the next day, but that didn’t happen.
“The last text I got from Oz was saying, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you.’ He goes, ‘Thanks for everything.’ It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it,” he told the publication.
Wylde recalled the show being “business as usual,” but noted that the priority at the time was “making sure that Oz was okay.”
“It was definitely pretty amazing. Seeing Oz onstage when Sabbath got done, that’s the last time I saw him,” he said.
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Elsewhere in the conversation, Wylde spoke about the familial bond he had with Osbourne, which is how he “always looked at it.”
“Ozzy is the godfather of our oldest son,” he told the outlet. “Whether I was playing with him or not, if Sharon called me and my wife up and said, ‘Guys, can you watch the house while we’re away on a business trip?’ I’d do it. It’s like, ‘If you need me to bring milk and eggs over, I’ll do it.’ “
Wylde joined Black Sabbath in 1987 and continued to work with Osbourne on and off throughout the ’90s and early ’00s, before joining him once for Osbourne’s final No More Tours II, which began in 2018.
In addition to Black Sabbath’s final performance earlier this month, he also joined Osbourne for his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2024.
Osbourne died on July 22. He was 76 years old.
At the time, Osbourne’s family told PEOPLE in a statement, “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Read the original article on People
