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Jack Osbourne has opened up about the devastating moment he learned his father, legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, had died at the age of 76.
In a YouTube video posted on September 3, Jack, 39, recalled waking to an unexpected visitor at his Los Angeles home. "I woke up in Los Angeles to a knock on my house door at around 3.45 [a.m.] in the morning," he said. "Someone who has worked for my family for about 30 years was knocking on my door and when I looked through my window and I saw it was him, I knew something bad had happened. I was informed that my father had passed."
The rocker's death on July 22 shocked fans worldwide. According to his death certificate, Ozzy died of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, with coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, and Parkinson's disease listed as contributing factors.
Jack revealed that although his father had faced health struggles, the loss came suddenly. "So many thoughts ... there was a level of like, 'Okay, he's not struggling. He's not suffering anymore,' and that is something. I wish he was still here, you know? I wish he was still with us all, but he was having a rough go and I think people saw that at the show," he said, referencing Ozzy's final Black Sabbath performance in Birmingham on July 5. "But nobody expected it to happen as quickly as it did and when it did. It was not anything that was on our radar."
Jack expressed gratitude that circumstances allowed him to spend precious time with his father in England before his passing. A planned family vacation to Portugal was cancelled when his children fell ill. "I've never been so grateful for my kids to have the stomach flu as I am today," he said, noting they instead spent the week at Ozzy's home.
Reflecting on his father's life, Jack described him as "deeply complicated," adding, "He was funny, and weird and awkward and clumsy and just hilarious and so insightful. People may have thought he was checked out, but most of the time he wanted you to think he was checked out. But he was very aware, always."
Following Ozzy's death, thousands of fans paid tribute in Birmingham, where floral offerings covered the Black Sabbath Bridge. "I speak for the family when I say this: we are so grateful for that, and it meant so much ... it was validating because I know we weren't alone," Jack said.
"He meant a lot to a lot of people," he added. "He was loved so much. A lot of people are going to miss him."
