Tony Iommi Says Ozzy Osbourne Has Been in Poor Condition Since Farewell Concert Rehearsals

JAKARTA - Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has spoken out about the death of Ozzy Osbourne on Tuesday, July 22, just two weeks after his "Back to the Beginning" farewell concert at Villa Park, Birmingham.

In a recent interview with ITV News the day after Osbourne's death, Iommi admitted to being shocked to learn of his colleague's passing.

"Yeah, it was a complete shock for us (learning that Ozzy had died). I mean, when I heard about it yesterday, it just didn't make sense," said the 77-year-old guitarist.

"I thought, 'No way.' I only received a message from him the day before. It felt surreal, surreal. And it just didn't make sense. And at night I started thinking, 'Oh my God, did I just dream all this?'"

Iommi also revealed what he saw of Osbourne during rehearsals for the farewell concert. He said the vocalist's condition was already poor.

"But like I said before, he wasn't performing well in rehearsals. And I think he actually stayed to play that show," Iommi added.

"Geezer (Butler, Black Sabbath bassist) and I were talking about it last night, and we thought he was staying to play, and right afterward, he did and said goodbye to the fans. And that was it."

Furthermore, the left-handed guitarist said the farewell concert with Sabbath was very meaningful to Osbourne. He said the show had been in preparation for a long time.

"Oh, he's been preparing for it for a long time," said Iommi. "He'd been practicing and doing everything he could to be able to perform this concert, to be able to do it. And that's what he really wanted to do. I think he must have had something in his mind that said, 'Well, this is it, this is the last thing I'm going to do.'"

"Whether he thought he was going to die or what, I don't know. But he really wanted to do it, and he was determined to do it. And he did it," he concluded.