Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde revealed the poignant final text message he received from the late metal icon after Black Sabbath’s farewell concert.
“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,’” Wylde told Guitar World in an interview published Tuesday.
“It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it.”
Wylde divulged in the interview that he had expected to see Osbourne — who died on July 22 at age 76 — at some point following Black Sabbath’s farewell concert in Birmingham, England, on July 5. But that never happened.
The guitarist — who joined Black Sabbath in 1987 — explained that he wanted to give the Prince of Darkness a reprieve from the chaos backstage after the show.
“Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room and I just wanted to give him a break,” Wylde said, noting elsewhere in the interview that their priority was “making sure that Oz was OK.”
“It was definitely pretty amazing. Seeing Oz onstage when Sabbath got done, that’s the last time I saw him,” Wylde recalled.
Wylde, 58, also shared how the Black Sabbath frontman was like family to him.
“Oz was just the best. I have my father, who was a World War II veteran; and then Ozzy, who was almost like an older brother,” the guitarist told the outlet.
“There was almost a 20-year age gap between us. With our relationship, there was the fun drinking – but if I ever needed advice, I could talk to him.”
The families were so close, in fact, that Osbourne was given a special title.
“Ozzy is the godfather of our oldest son,” Wylde said. “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.’”
The legendary rocker died last week after battling Parkinson’s disease and the effects of a 2003 quad bike accident.
Ozzy’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, and children announced his death in a statement obtained by Page Six.
“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,” they said.
“He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Ozzy was honored with a funeral procession in Birmingham, England, on Wednesday.