Tony Iommi Opens Up About His Final Conversation With Ozzy Osbourne: “I Still Can't Get It in My Head”

Tony Iommi has shared a deeply personal memory of his final conversation with Ozzy Osbourne, revealing that the Black Sabbath frontman told him he felt “tired” and “really worn out” just one night before his death.

For Iommi, the loss still does not feel real.

The guitarist reflected on their final conversation while discussing Black Sabbath's farewell performance at Birmingham's Villa Park — an event that gave Ozzy, Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward the chance to stand together one last time in the city where heavy metal began.

“It still feels like he's there,” Iommi said, explaining that seeing old footage of Ozzy can make the reality of his passing hard to process.

That feeling will be familiar to millions of Sabbath fans. Ozzy was never simply a frontman. He was one of rock's most singular presences: funny, unpredictable, vulnerable, fearless, and somehow larger than the genre he helped create.

One Last Show in Birmingham

The farewell concert was clearly not easy for Ozzy. His health had taken a visible toll, and Iommi has said the band knew the demands of rehearsals and performance would be significant.

But Ozzy wanted to be there.

Even while struggling physically, he continued to show up, push through rehearsals, and prepare for what became an extraordinary final moment for Black Sabbath. Iommi recalled that Ozzy was determined to give the audience everything he had left.

That determination is part of why the Birmingham farewell means so much. It was not simply another legacy-rock event. It was the original Black Sabbath returning home for one final chapter — with Ozzy at the center of it.

The Bond That Built Black Sabbath

Ozzy and Tony Iommi's relationship was never polished or predictable. It did not need to be.

Their chemistry was built over decades of impossible highs, public splits, reunions, health battles, classic albums, and the kind of shared history only a band can create. Iommi's crushing riffs gave Sabbath its foundation; Ozzy's voice gave those riffs a human edge — haunted, strange, vulnerable, and unforgettable.

Together, they made darkness feel theatrical. They made heaviness feel emotional. And they created a sound that still sits at the root of metal more than half a century later.

Songs like “Black Sabbath,” “Iron Man,” “Paranoid,” “War Pigs,” and “Children of the Grave” do not just survive because they are heavy. They survive because the connection between Iommi's guitar and Ozzy's voice was unlike anything else in rock.

“It still feels like he's there.”

Why This Moment Hits So Hard

There is something especially painful about Iommi's memory because it is so ordinary.

A friend says they are tired. Another friend tells them to rest. Then, suddenly, the world changes.

For fans, Ozzy Osbourne was the Prince of Darkness, the outrageous icon, the reality-TV star, and one of the most recognizable voices in music. For Iommi, he was also Ozzy — the kid from Birmingham he had known for nearly a lifetime.

That humanity is what makes this story land.

Black Sabbath's farewell gave fans a final celebration. Iommi's words remind us that, behind the legend, there was also a friendship that endured through everything.

The Legacy Is Permanent

Ozzy may be gone, but his voice is welded into rock history. And every time Tony Iommi plays one of those Sabbath riffs, the connection is still there.

The final show in Birmingham now feels even more significant: not just a farewell to a band, but a final gift from four musicians who changed music forever.

What is the Black Sabbath or Ozzy song you will always associate with him?

Related Reading on The Guitar Plugged

• Remembering Ozzy Osbourne: The Guitarists Who Helped Define the Prince of Darkness

• Tony Iommi: The Man Who Lost His Fingertips and Invented Heavy Metal

• Tony Iommi Announces From the Dark