Last Rites

“I have a genuine love affair with my audience When I’m on stage they’re not privileged to see me. It’s a privilege for me to see them.” – Ozzy Osbourne 
 
He loved music, he loved performing, he loved his family, he loved his friends, and he loved his wife. I can’t think of Ozzy without hearing him in my mind yelling “Sharon.” He was also complicated, he was an addict, he was a heavy metal icon, he was a father, he was a grandfather, he was a husband, and he rocked the world! He had many friends in the music industry and shared some of his experiences and tales about them as well. 
 
“I’m about caring. I’m about people, and I’m about entertaining people. I’m a family man. A Husband. A father. I’ve been a lot of other things over the years, which we don’t really want to talk about.” – Ozzy Osbourne 
 
In Last Rites, Ozzy Osbourne shares health struggles and declining health. He also shares about his humble and poor beginnings to being in Black Sabbath, being fired, and like the phoenix, rising from the flames to go on to be a HUGE solo artist. Along the way he stumbled, he fell; he got back up, and he never gave up. In Last Rites he shares about his antics, his love of music, his love of performing, his use of drugs and alcohol, those he admired, those he lost, and those who mattered most to him. 
 
“Has he lost his mind? 
Can he see, or is he blind? 
Can he walk at all? 
Or if he moves, will he fall?” – Iron Man, Black Sabbath 
 
Last Rites is Ozzy being honest, humorous, reflective, and unpolemically himself. He wasn’t the most handsome man, he wasn’t the most graceful on stage, but he had charisma, that recognizable voice, and his ability to be both a rock god and an ordinary human being. He provided many with an outlet and someone to relate to. He up grew poor, he understood what it meant to struggle and go without, and he appreciated what he gained. He didn’t give a fuck and yet he did. He was complicated and yet fans felt as if they knew him. Whether it be through his music or his reality TV show, Osbourne lets fans into his life – the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
 
“Crazy, but that’s how it goes 
Millions of people living as foes 
Maybe it’s not too late 
To learn how to love 
And forget how to hate” – Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne 
 
Fans of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, or just music in general, may enjoy this book. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was fantastic. Man, his death, hurt. But his music, will go on. 
 
“Times have changed and times are strange 
Here I come, but I ain’t the same 
Mama, I’m coming home 
Times go by, it seems to be 
You could have been a better friend to me 
Mama, I’m coming home 
You took me in and you drove me out, yeah 
You had me hypnotised, yeah 
Lost and found and turned around 
By the fire in your eyes” – Mama, I’m Coming Home – Ozzy Osbourne 
 
Highly Recommend. 
 
 
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