Before he died at 76, rock icon Ozzy Osbourne revealed how he wanted the world to remember him.
The frontman of Black Sabbath and media personality, who died on Tuesday, sat down for his final PEOPLE interview in 2022, sharing what he believed his legacy would be. “Survival is my legacy,” Osbourne, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019 and endured spinal cord injuries from numerous accidents, explained.
He added, “I mean, I’m 73. People go, ‘Well, you’re 70… why don’t I throw the towel in?’ Why should I? People still want to buy my records. People still want to see me, so why should I? It motivates me to get off my backside and do something. I mean, if my career had gone down the toilet and I knew it was the end, I’d be pretty miserable.”
Sharing what he hoped his legacy would represent for others, the five-time Grammy Award winner said, “Never give up. If you’ve got a passion for something, you’ve got to find a way around it to carry on the passion.”
After his death on July 22, Osbourne’s family told PEOPLE, “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’s privacy at this time.”
For Osbourne, being remembered at all, let alone for making history as a rock artist and two-time Hall of Famer, was a major achievement. “I’d like to be remembered for the work I did with Black Sabbath. I’m so proud of the music. But to be honest, just being remembered would be an achievement to me,” he told The Guardian in 2018.
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He added, “I come from Aston in Birmingham, y’know? I used to play on bombsites… There’s a guy living in the house I grew up in, and they charge people £200 to sleep in the bedroom I had as a kid.”
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Ozzy Osbourne, London, 1975
Despite his numerous health challenges, Osbourne performed one last farewell fundraising concert with Black Sabbath on July 5 in his hometown of Birmingham, England — his final concert, and first with the band in 20 years.
Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the music director for the event, shared that the show raised $190 million for Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
When asked to write his own epitaph in 2002 by Rolling Stone, Osbourne said, “Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948, died so-and-so. I’ve done a lot for a simple working-class guy. I made a lot of people smile. I’ve also made a lot of people go, ‘Who the fuck does this guy think he is?’ But I’ve got no complaints. At least I’ll be remembered.”
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