In a heartfelt new interview, shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper has shared the behind-the-scenes story of his surprise tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with actor Johnny Depp and offered a poignant peer’s perspective on his friend’s passing, stating his belief that the Osbourne family “saw it coming and prepared for it.”
Speaking with Philadelphia’s 93.3 WMMR radio station, Cooper recounted the moment he learned of Osbourne‘s death on July 22, just as he was about to take the stage in Scotland. He initially dismissed it as a fake “A.I. story” before the devastating news was confirmed. A few days later, for his sold-out show at London’s O2 Arena on July 25, he knew he had to pay tribute.
“I called up [actor] Johnny Depp, who’s in the Hollywood Vampires with me. And Johnny‘s a killer guitar player,” Cooper explained. “He came up, and we never told the audience what we were gonna do. At the end of ‘School’s Out’, they figured, ‘Well, there’s nothing else after that,’ with the balloons and the confetti… and then the guitar player starts ‘Paranoid’, and the place went crazy.” At the conclusion of the Black Sabbath classic, Cooper offered a simple, powerful farewell: “Everybody say good night to Ozzy.“
Reflecting on the timing of Osbourne‘s passing so soon after the triumphant “Back To The Beginning” farewell concert, Cooper offered a thoughtful perspective on what the family must have been going through.
“There must have been knowledge of, you don’t have that much longer,” he said. “And Sharon‘s such a great lady, and Jack and Kelly, they’re really a cool family… I think at least it wasn’t sudden. I think that they saw it coming and prepared for it.”
In a previous interview with Planet Rock, Cooper provided one of the most insightful analyses of his friend’s dual nature, a perspective few could offer. “I always saw Ozzy as a cross between the prince of darkness, which is the persona his fans saw, and the court jester. That was the side that his family and friends saw,” he explained.
He described his relationship with Osbourne as one not of constant contact, but of deep, mutual respect between two pioneers who shared band members and a similar theatrical path. “I just respected him and I think we had a mutual respect for each other,” he said.
The news of Osbourne‘s death clearly hit Cooper hard. In a message recorded for his radio show just minutes after he found out, he summed up the feeling shared by the entire rock community.
“Well, we all know that time is going to take us rockers, but when the giants fall, it’s really hard to accept,” he said. “Even though everybody saw it coming with Ozzy, it just took our breath away when it happened.”
