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In his upcoming posthumous memoir\u00a0Last Rites<\/em>, Ozzy Osbourne<\/a> details the myriad hurdles he had to overcome to perform at his Back to the Beginning farewell show, his mounting fear leading up to the big event \u2014 and Sharon Osbourne<\/a>‘s backup plan in case he couldn’t perform.<\/p>\n The Prince of Darkness, who died<\/a> on July 22 at the age of 76, was plagued by health problems in his final years, which\u00a0Last Rites<\/em> will explore in detail. In an excerpt published by The Times<\/a><\/em>, Ozzy\u00a0describes the\u00a0comically painful scene in the airport as his family traveled to Birmingham for the concert.<\/p>\n “The cherry on top was when they made me get out of my wheelchair and ‘walk’ through the body scanner,” he writes. “I almost went through that thing arse over tit. Well\u2026 this is going smoothly, I thought.”<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 10 Simple Ways to Honor Ozzy Osbourne in Your Daily Life<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Things got worse before they got better for Ozzy after he landed in his home country. “Three days after we finally got to England I was back in hospital,” he writes. “My blood pressure kept me there for eight days, during which I had nothing to do but worry. Because the show kept getting bigger.”<\/p>\n The magnitude of the event made Ozzy even more nervous. “As all these huge names were announced \u2014 Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a>, Metallica<\/a>, Steven Tyler<\/a>\u00a0from Aerosmith<\/a> \u2014 I was like, holy f***, it\u2019s gonna be like metal\u2019s answer to Live Aid,” he says. “Lying in bed at night I\u2019d be like, I can\u2019t go, I can\u2019t do this. I kept saying to Sharon, we\u2019d better get a video made \u2019cos there\u2019ll be an empty stage. She just looked at me like I was mad. She knows me better than I do. She knew I was just scared.”<\/p>\n Finally, Sharon told Ozzy he was getting on the stage whether he sang or not.\u00a0“Eventually Sharon said, ‘Look, there\u2019ll be no backup plan. No video. No prerecorded anything. If you can\u2019t sing on the night, just talk to the crowd and thank them. All you need to do is get up there and be Ozzy.”<\/p>\n Those who watched the Back to the Beginning concert know that Ozzy’s solo performance and Black Sabbath<\/a> reunion\u00a0were both soaring successes.<\/p>\nOzzy Was Worried About\u00a0Farewell Concert: ‘The Show Kept Getting Bigger’<\/h3>\n
Sharon Osbourne’s ‘Backup Plan’: ‘Get Up There and Be Ozzy’<\/h3>\n