Veteran guitarist and The Sopranos star Stevie Van Zandt has paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, who died yesterday (July 22).
Bruce Springsteen‘s longtime collaborator took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the Prince of Darkness’ passing. Van Zandt described Osbourne as a “one of a kind” talent who was an “irreplaceable legend” in music history. Posting a clip of Osbourne attending the 2002 White House Correspondents Dinner, Van Zandt says he was stunned by the Black Sabbath frontman’s humility and friendliness behind the scenes. Osbourne’s family confirmed the War Pigs and Paranoid singer had died “surrounded by love” on the morning of July 22. His death comes just weeks after he and the rest of Black Sabbath’s original line-up performed a farewell gig.
Van Zandt wrote: “RIP Ozzy. One of a kind. We opened for him once. Him and the band as nice as can be. I’d only run into him every 5 years or so and he always made a point to say hello. Did his wife Sharon’s TV show and she was wonderful also. Deepest condolences to Sharon, Aimee, Kelly, and Jack. Irreplaceable legend.”
A statement from Osbourne’s family, released on July 22, confirmed the Prince of Darkness had passed away. He was 76. Their statement reads: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Tributes from fellow musicians, public figures, and members of the public have flooded in following the news of Osbourne’s death. Fellow Black Sabbath band member Tony Iommi posted a collection of photos from his and Osbourne’s time on stage and paid tribute to his “dear friend”.
He wrote on Twitter: “I just can’t believe it! My dear dear friend Ozzy has passed away only weeks after our show at Villa Park. It’s just such heartbreaking news that I can’t really find the words, there won’t ever be another like him. Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother. My thoughts go out to Sharon and all the Osbourne family. Rest in peace Oz.”
Osbourne’s interactions backstage with other musicians led to a few surprising friendships. The Prince of Darkness and The Beatles’ Paul McCartney would share a friendly back-and-forth over email.
Osbourn recounted his friendship with the Wings frontman in his autobiography, where he shared his plan to “nick” a song from McCartney. He decided not to, though, and word got back to McCartney.
He wrote in his book, I Am Ozzy: “We e-mail each other from time to time now, me and Paul. (Which means I speak and Tony taps what I’ve said into the computer, ’cos I don’t have the patience for all that internet bollocks.)
“It started when I heard a song called Fine Line on a Lexus commercial. I thought, Fucking hell, that’s not a bad tune, I think I’ll nick it. So I mentioned it – just in passing – to a guy who used to work with me called John Roden, who also happened to work with Paul.
“John said, ‘Y’know who wrote that, don’t you?’ I told him I didn’t have a clue. ‘My other boss,’ he said. Obviously I left the song well alone after that.” Word got back to McCartney that Osbourne had decided to leave the song alone, and what followed was a sweet letter from The Beatles member.
Osbourne continued: “Then, out of the blue, came this letter saying, ‘Thanks for not nicking Fine Line, Ozzy.’ You couldn’t get the smile off my face for days. And it just went on from there.
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