Ozzy Osbourne - A Memory of The Prince of Darkness

July 23, 2025

Somewhere, there is a doctor from Manchester NH, who once took a photo of me with Ozzy Osbourne, in Ozzy's dressing room at the (then) Verizon Wireless Arena.

And the son of a bitch never sent it to me.

I'll get to the rest of that in a moment -

But today, the news came that Ozzy had passed. Was I shocked? No. After watching the "Back to the Beginning" concert footage, I wondered how much time he had left. So frail. Yet- so determined to give it one last go on stage, and give it everything he had. And he did it.

What's strange is, driving to work on Monday I was thinking about Ozzy and how he held out long enough to complete that show. The fact that he did it was miraculous in and of itself. But as I drove- I wondered if it took all the gas he had left in the tank. I likened it to a elderly parent who is about to pass - but holds out until all the kids get there. Then, and only then- do they let go. I actually wondered about that on Monday morning. And it happened one day later. Crazy ("but that's how it goes").

Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

I've interviewed Ozzy - I think, 3 times. Once in person, and twice on the phone. All of them were pinch me moments for all of us on the show. It was Ozzy F****in' Osbourne, man! I want to use this space here to tell you about the in person interview I did with him when he played the Verizon Wireless Arena with Rob Zombie. It was December 20th, 2001. And if you're wondering- here was his set list-

Before the show, we were the only ones allowed to interview Ozzy in his dressing room. When he came into the building, security was so tight, nobody could be in the hallway when he entered the building, per orders of Sharon, his wife. An hour later, I was escorted into his dressing room with a digital tape recorder to do the interview with him. He wouldn't do it live.

So the giant security guard brings me in and introduces me to Ozzy. He was sitting on a couch because he had injured his leg a week before- but he was very gracious and welcoming. He motioned me to sit next to him - and I have to admit, I was kind of scared shitless. Not because he did anything bad, but it was OZZY F****IN' OSBOURNE! I sat next to him and he asked if I could wait to start the interview until he had laced up his boot - which was actually a cast disguised as a boot because he had broken his foot or leg, i cant remember). I said "absolutely!".

We chatted as he laced up a knee high boot onto his leg. He was extremely nice. Gentle, even. I didn't expect that. He was chewing gum as he talked and as he did- I was fixated on his knuckles. Rolling Stone Magazine once did a pictorial of famous peoples hands. Muhammed Ali's fist took up a whole page, and there was a portrait of Ozzy's too. He had the letters "O-Z-Z-Y" across his four knuckles. I'll never forget it. I couldn't believe I was looking the iconic OZZY tattoo, and it was 2 feet from my face!

I know some of you have heard this story before- but this was a moment I will never forget.

Ozzy laced his boot up all the way on his broken leg, and said "Ok lets do it!". So I started "We're backstage with Ozzy Osbourne at the Verizon Wireless Arena" -

And that's when Ozzy screamed at the top of his lungs-

"FUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!"

Holy shit, I almost jumped off the couch!

His security giant came running in - looking at me like I had done something! I didn't know what to do so I put my hands up in the air like I was friggin UNDER ARREST! I blurted- "WASN'T ME!"

And then Ozzy yells-

"I PUT THE BOOT ON THE WRONG FUCKING LEG!!!!!!!!!"

I swear to God all of this is true. Ozzy spent 15 minutes lacing up a "boot" cast on to the leg that wasn't broken. I struggled not to laugh- but Ozzy shook his head and gave me that embarrassed "What the F***!" look. It was about as classic an Ozzy moment as I could have ever asked for. Of course, I only say that because I had watched The Osbournes on MTV and knew he was kind of klutzy. He gathered himself and said again - "F*** it, let's do this" -

The interview went on, and I cant remember what I asked, but it was short, yet he answered every question.

It was kind of like a surreal dream, to be honest. I was sitting next to and talking to the voice of Black Sabbath. The Prince of Darkness. The man who bit the head off a bat (as legend has it), and the guy who screamed "Alllll aboarddddddddddd" at the start of "Crazy Train". It was thrilling. And here's one thing I can tell you that you wouldn't expect:

Ozzy was the best smelling rocker I had ever met. Dude smelled like- I swear - raspberries. Don't know why, or what it was, but that shit smelled awesome.

We said our goodbyes and he was so kind, and like i said- gentle. Very easy to talk to and he put me at ease as best he could. He didn't have to do that, but he did. I guess I expected a wild man, and I got a kind, older version of Ozzy that kind of caught me off guard. And as I walked down the concourse back to our backstage broadcast area, I thought- "Nobody - is going to believe what just happened".

Ozzy crushed it that night. Broken leg or foot and all. The set was only 12 songs - but who cares? It was OZZY F****IN' OSBOURNE!

And about that Doctor who took the pic of Ozzy and me? He brought his camera (it was before cell phones took good pics), and he was there to give Ozzy a B12 shot in his ass. Some performers get that for energy before the show. I used his camera to take pic of him and his daughter with Ozzy, and I asked if he would take one of Oz and me- and send it to me. He said "yes" and took the pic.

And I never heard from that Doctor again.

Bastard.

Still, I had a moment with the Prince of Darkness and I will never forget it. I will never forget how kind he was to me. All the stuff he'd been thru. The drugs and alcohol abuse, the chaos and craziness of his life- and still - he was a gentleman. That's pretty damn cool.

Ozzy's death wasn't shocking to me. Part of me wonders if it was more of a surrender, than anything unexpected. From what I read, and what he said in interviews - the pain was unbearable. I think everyone would understand if he chose to go, but we'll never know. All I know is he isn't in pain anymore. And even though he's gone, we all have the music, and I have the memories of some special moments with Ozzy F****in' Osbourne.

Rest in peace Oz -