Megadeth star David Ellefson said Ozzy Osbourne viewed the Back To The Beginning show as a way for him to say farewell on his terms – he feels the benefit concert was the ‘Live Aid of heavy metal’
Ozzy Osbourne viewed his farewell concert as attending his own “wake” – allowing him to say goodbye on his terms while hanging many of his favourite rock icons and family.
The Prince of Darkness revelled in performing and spending two days with bandmates, family and musicians at the Birmingham gig. And according to close friend and Megadeth star David Ellefson it was seen by the hell raising Brummie as the way “for him to say goodbye while he is still here”.
Ellefson feels that the Back To The Beginning show, which raised £190m for charities, was the “Live Aid of heavy metal” – adding to Ozzy’s legacy as pioneer of the genre. He said: “Obviously we all knew the end was coming for Ozzy. I feel like this was the wake, the celebration of life for him while he was still here, rather than, ‘oh, he passed. Let’s throw a concert now. It’s sad.’
“Sharon really did a great job and all the organizers to do this for Ozzy, but also for him to say goodbye to us or for all of us to say goodbye to him while he’s still here. The way it all teed up here was just it couldn’t have been any better, man.
“That was just such a remarkable thing because now that he’s gone, we have great memories of him and having just seen him and perform for us, rather than going, ‘gosh, I sure have wished I could have seen him one last time’.
“So I think there is a little bit of divine beauty in how it all has played out actually.”
Ellefson says that Ozzy’s frail state was much graver than fans realised.
Speaking on his podcast, he added: “It wasn’t some sudden shocking thing and we all had some time to prepare for it.
“Because we all knew the condition. We got to see the condition when we were at the gig. It’s not surprising, but it’s shocking when you hear it. It’s like, ‘we were just with them a couple weeks ago’.
“The whole show was just fantastic. It was heavy metal Live Aid. It had that special feeling.
“It is sad that he’s gone on one level, he was going to be suffering.
“So on one level, when someone passes, you’re like, what’s sail on, brother? Get out of this broken body – you gave us a lot.
“We can’t ask for anymore, man. Sail on brother. Head back home and see the Lord.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
