NEED TO KNOW
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Andrew Watt recalled Ozzy Osbourne’s final days, including Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert
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The record producer worked with Osbourne on the albums Ordinary Man and Patient Number 9
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Osbourne died on July 22 at 76
Andrew Watt is looking back at Ozzy Osbourne‘s final days.
In an interview with Rolling Stone published on Saturday, Sept. 27, the record producer opened up about Osbourne’s final show with Black Sabbath, Back to the Beginning, along with his death weeks later.
“Everything was normal,” Watt, 34, told the publication, “and the next day the news was just a giant shock.” Osbourne died on July 22 at 76.
He called Osbourne’s final show, which took place on July 5, “unbelievable.”
“At this current moment, it feels like a dream sequence,” Watt reflected. “The whole last month of his life feels like a dream. I had been in London working on a project, and going to the show and getting to Birmingham was amazing.”
Alex Pantling/Getty
Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham, England in August 2022
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Watt said the final show felt like “heavy metal summer camp” since there were so many people there from different parts of Osbourne’s life for those final weeks. He added that the night before the show, Watt spent a couple of hours with the “Paranoid” singer in his hotel room chatting.
“He could see you in your good, your bad, and just in a way that you were — he was witchy like that. He often knew things that were gonna happen before they happened and just had an incredible sense,” he said.
Watt produced Osbourne’s last albums, Ordinary Man in 2020 and Patient Number 9 two years later, while Osbourne was recovering from an accident in 2019. When making the music, it was the first time Watt realized “that music was something bigger than just making songs.”
“It was giving him a purpose when he didn’t feel well and making him feel great and laugh and sing and dance and heal. Those two albums were incredible, and they, for me, are the reason why I’m here talking to you today,” said Watt.
As for more not-yet-released music from Watt and Osbourne, the producer coyly said, “I can’t talk about that!”
A source close to Osbourne’s family told PEOPLE in late July about the “Iron Man” singer’s final days.
“They’re very grateful for the special family time they had together before Ozzy passed,” the source said at the time. “They’re planning a small, private funeral that will be a celebration of his life. Ozzy would never want a mope-fest.”
His family was “touched by all the love and support pouring in from around the world.”
Theo Wargo/Getty
Ozzy Osbourne, Andrew Watt, Jelly Roll and Zakk Wylde in Cleveland, Ohio in October 2024
Another source told PEOPLE that Osbourne and his wife of over 40 years, Sharon Osbourne, moved to Buckinghamshire in 2023, two years before the rock star died after several health setbacks.
“Sharon had wanted to move back to England for years, especially as she got older. England was always home for them, but it became more than that,” the source revealed. “It was about creating peace and the best life possible together in their final chapter. The path back to England wasn’t easy. His health has been fragile for years.”
Read the original article on People