Ozzy Osbourne passed away three weeks after his final Black Sabbath concert at Villa Park, and his friend, Tom Morello, has opened up about his last days

Ozzy Osbourne in blue jacket and coffin necklace© Getty Images

Ozzy Osbourne’s close friend, Back to the Beginning’s musical directorTom Morello, has shared that the musician “knew” his farewell concert at Villa Park was set to be his last ever gig.

Just three weeks before his passing at age 76, the Black Sabbath legend reunited with his band for one final, unforgettable performance. Tom, who helped organize the concert, opened up about his friend’s death on US radio station Q101.

Ozzy Osbourne speaks onstage at iHeartRadio ICONS

© Getty Images for iHeartMedia

The musican passed away at the age of 76

“Ozzy Osbourne had lived on the edge for such a long time, the fact he lived as long as he did was a miracle,” he said.

“The fact he lived to play and feel that love one more time, to do Paranoid, to do Crazy Train. If you have got to go – and I wish Ozzy lived another 30 years – if you’ve got to go out… it felt like he knew.”

Tom, who is also a guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, shared that he expressed his gratitude to the late musician after spending two years working with him and his wife, Sharon, to organize the reunion show.

However, when asked whether the death had come as a shock, the guitarist revealed that Ozzy had been “frail for a while”. “Friends of mine saw him a week later at another event in Birmingham. He wasn’t on his deathbed. He was just sort of living his life. It was a terrible and tragic surprise,” he added.

Tom Morello performing at Boston Calling Music Festival

© Getty Images

Tom Morello helped organize the farewell concert

Tom vowed to make the concert “the greatest day in the history of heavy metal” when the couple approached him for help. “Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. Ozzy and Sabbath could not be more important to me as a fan. I laid out to make it a great show for fans and for them,” he explained.

“It is so unusual that those guys headlined. They got to see all the work they had done and the great artists their music had created perform for them.

“They got to play and feel the love not just from the bands, the people in the stadium but from all over the world.”

Ozzy’s death

The star’s family announced his death in July with a personal statement that read: “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.”

Sharon Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne looking fondly at each other on stage

© WireImage

Sharon Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne

The statement continued: “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”

Ozzy is survived by his wife Sharon Osbourne and his children, Jack, Kelly, Aimee, Jessica, Louis, and Elliot.