Ozzy Osbourne said he didn’t enjoy his reunion with Black Sabbath during their final years, which culminated in a farewell show.

The period opened with an announcement in 2011 that the four original members – Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – were reuniting for a studio project and tour. Ward bowed out over a contract dispute, and the others released their last album, 13, in 2013, then went on to deliver their The End tour, before playing their final concert in their hometown of Birmingham, England, in February 2017.

"I didn't have a great time," Osbourne told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a new interview. “I spent nine or 10 years in Sabbath, but I'd been away from them for over 30 years. With them, I'm just a singer. With me, I get to do what I want to do. I was getting bad vibes from them for being Ozzy. I don't know, what the fuck else can I be?”

“Being Ozzy” included his reality TV series The Osbournes, which exposed him to audiences beyond the rock world. “I'm just a zany ham," he said. “People tell me I sold out, that it's not heavy metal, it's not cool. I don't agree. It's all entertainment. You got to be mad if you turn down that kind of dough.”

Osbourne noted that while he's gotten older, "the audience seems to have stayed the same. I see fathers and sons and grandsons. I got a thank-you card about three days ago from a 70-something-year-old woman saying, 'You might not believe me but I love going to your concerts with my son.' It makes you feel weird. I've replaced Bing Crosby and all them, I have.”

He’s currently on the road with No More Tours 2, which he’d previously said didn’t mean he was planning retirement. “What I'm stopping is doing what I'm doing now, going around the world all the time," he reiterated. "I wish people would understand I'm not retiring. Is it my bad English accent? It's called the 'No More Tours' tour. It doesn't say 'No more tours ever.’

“I've got grandchildren that I want to spend time with," he added. "I never spent that much time with my own kids. But I don't punch a card every morning. This is not my job; it's my passion. It's been the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life."

 

 

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