The Prince of Darkness might’ve left the stage, but Ozzy Osbourne isn’t done telling his wild-ass story. Set to hit shelves on October 7, his new memoir, Last Rites, promises a no-holds-barred look at the chaos, carnage, and comebacks that turned a Birmingham bat-biter into a global metal god.
Last Rites is Ozzy’s second tell-all, following 2009’s I Am Ozzy, and this time, the volume’s cranked. He’s pulling back the curtain on the brutal health battles—including his 2020 Parkinson’s diagnosis—that finally forced him off the road. But this ain’t some pity party. Ozzy’s throwing open the vault on his explosive marriage with Sharon, behind-the-scenes madness from his farewell “Back to the Beginning” concert, and legendary run-ins with some of rock’s hardest-living icons.
We're talking debauched nights with Bon Scott, drum kit destruction with John Bonham, full-blown lunacy with Keith Moon, and his final heart-to-heart with Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister before he checked out in 2015. If you're looking for bedtime stories, this ain’t it. This is blood, beer, and full-volume truth from the guy who lived to tell it.
“People ask me, ‘Would you do anything different?’ Fuck no,” Ozzy says in Last Rites. “If I’d been clean and sober, I wouldn’t be Ozzy. If I’d done normal, sensible things, I wouldn’t be Ozzy. I’ve done good, I’ve done bad—but I’ve lived, man.”
And he’s not quite done. Less than a week before announcing the book, Ozzy melted faces one last time during a powerhouse solo set and Black Sabbath reunion in his hometown of Birmingham. Last Rites might be the final chapter, but don’t expect him to go quietly.
