As the first anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne‘s death approaches, Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has offered a raw, heartfelt tribute to the singer he called both a brother and one of his closest friends.
Speaking during his July show on “LA Radio Sessions” with Mike Stark, Ward took a moment to honor his longtime bandmate, who died on July 22, 2025. He began by celebrating what Osbourne left behind musically.
“Ozzy forever. That’s what I wanted to say today. [He is] dearly missed. We’re in the month now, the anniversary, of his passing, and I wanna say his music was just brilliant. Whatever he’s participated in musically, it’s all been brilliant. His voice is eerie. It’s scary. It’s passionate. It can cross all boundaries. It’s timeless,” he said.
He then turned to the personal loss, placing Osbourne among the people who mattered most in his life. “I miss the hell out of him,” Ward added. “He was one of my best friends. I’ll say just one of my best friends, ’cause my mum was another one of my best friends. My brother was another one of my best friends, but Ozzy was like a brother, and he was one of my best friends.
The drummer admitted he’d had to steel himself just to get through the segment. “If we’d had done this show a few months ago, I’d have been crying my eyeballs out,” he said. “I think I’m at a place now where I’ll cry after the show, but I’m doing my best to get through the show and not cry so that I can say good things about him. I never wanna let him down, ever. And I love him all the time. I love him every single day. I miss him every single day, and I loved him every day when he was alive, and I love him every day now.”
Osbourne‘s death certificate, filed in London, listed a heart attack as the cause of death, with coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease noted as contributing factors. A private funeral was held on July 31, 2025 on the 250-acre Buckinghamshire estate the singer and his wife, Sharon Osbourne, had bought in 1993. Only 110 friends and family attended, among them his Black Sabbath bandmates along with Robert Trujillo, Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor. The day before, thousands of fans lined the streets of Birmingham to pay their respects, with Sharon and the couple’s children Aimée, Kelly and Jack joining the mourners.
The tribute carries added weight given how Osbourne‘s story ended. Just weeks before his death, he reunited with Black Sabbath‘s original lineup — Ward, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler — for his final performance at the “Back To The Beginning” charity concert in their hometown of Birmingham. For Ward, the show also offered a measure of closure he’d missed after missing out the band’s 2017 farewell run over a contractual dispute, letting him stand alongside his bandmates one last time.
