Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne passed away earlier today at the age of 76, just 2 weeks after Black Sabbath's historic Back to the Beginning all-star charity and tribute concert at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England, very near where the band was formed in 1968. Tom Morello was that event's music director, and - in addition to Black Sabbath - some of the acts that performed were Metallica, Tool, Pantera and many more. Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were originally asked to participate, and agreed to do so, but had to back out as Alex explains here:
... "I don't know if I was really a fan of Black Sabbath, but I did get a couple of records back then and I enjoyed listening to them. I respected Tony [Iommi's] guitar playing ...There was an interesting parallel for their beginnings and our beginnings." As Lifeson shared this, he quickly pivoted to discussing Back to the Beginning, the concert that will capture Ozzy Osbourne's final show as a solo artist and the final show of the original Black Sabbath lineup. "We were asked to be part of it and we'd agreed to do it, but other things came up and sadly, we had to back out of it," Lifeson said. "It would have been a lot of fun. We enjoy playing with other people and it gets Geddy [Lee] and me together to do stuff." ...
Rush put out the following statement via social media earlier today after hearing the news:
Ozzy Osbourne:
Fearless.
One of a kind.
Played by no one's rules."I remember listening to the first Sabbath album when it came out and thinking how 'effin' heavy' Tony Iommi's guitar sounded," said Geddy Lee. "Ozzy and his bandmates were at the forefront of that genre, that brand of Metal, and Ozzy was an intensely loved, one of a kind performer.
We never got to play on the same bill with Black Sabbath, and in fact we only ever did one gig with Ozzy, at the Texas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in June of 1984 (poster attached).
Rush recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales at the same time in the late 70's and I recall Ozzy poking his head in the control room to ask if he could "borrow" some Hashish from Neil! For years afterwards, Neil relished telling the story of how "Ozzy owes me some hash" ;)
Total respect to a legend and a band whose music profoundly influenced thousands of musicians and left behind a legacy for us all to "rock out" to forever.
RIP Ozzy
