Ozzy Osbourne was 'ready to go' after battling physical torment and trauma, says pal

Rock icon Ozzy Osbourne battled through physical torment and trauma to stay alive for his farewell concert - days before his death. Ozzy was struggling to cope with the daily pain of living with back, neck and leg pain as well as Parkinson’s disease as he worked on his farewell appearance.

Long term friend Steve Jones, who was the guitarist of The Sex Pistols, gave this heart breaking assessment of the Birmingham singer's life issues.

Jones talked highly of “pioneer” Ozzy, who often had him in hysterics with his comedic nature and love of dropping f bombs. Reflecting on his death, he said: “I knew Oz, he was a legend and he was brilliant. It is sad, but I think he was holding on until he got that Aston Villa last show out of it, and I think he just said, okay, ‘I’m ready to go’.

“So I don't think he was having any quality of life. Ozzy, I think I would've probably wanted to go if my life was physically like his.“

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He likened Ozzy’s drive to perform with Black Sabbath and his solo tracks at the Back to the Beginning show at Villa Park to another pal’s departure.

“It reminded me of when Johnny Ramon was living in LA and I was there and I had a radio show there too. It was a similar thing where he had this one show he wanted to have people do an ode to him. He wasn't there, but he was watching it, Once that was over he let it go and died a couple of days later. “

Jones , returning to tour the States with the Sex Pistols in the next few weeks, spoke of how much joy Ozzy brought to people’s lives.

“He was one of the funniest guys. We had such a riot when he'd ever come on my radio show, If you could stop him from effing and blinding, he was great.”

Jonesy laughed about how working with Ozzy on radio was always problematic for his radio chiefs.

He told Radio Surrey: “It was live, I couldn't care less, to be honest with you. I wasn't the one getting fined.”

Ozzy died on Tuesday, just over two weeks after his Back to the Beginning farewell show. He had spoken of his hope to spend more time with his family after the gig as he tried to enjoy his final days, but in reality had very little time left.

A statement from his family said: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time."