Back to the Beginning . . .

Ozzy's Last Show

I remember staining my parents cabin up on Lake Cushman in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. My mom always thought it was hilarious that, any time I needed money, I would ask to give it another coat . . . even when it didn’t need it. They were happy enough to oblige though and it kept me busy. One summer while doing this I had two cassette tapes with me that I played over and over in my yellow Sony Walkman; Rust in Peace by Megadeth and Paranoid, by Black Sabbath. I never had so much fun staining a structure so many times and, if I remember right, it paid pretty well too.

Today I spent the whole day watching “Back to the Beginning”, Ozzy’s last show where he was accompanied by many artists, including my mighty Mastodon, and David Ellefson from Megadeth (the guy who married my wife and me about eight years ago). All the greats from MY generation were there to include the above but also Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax (Scott Ian was playing the guitar I just bought which was fun to see) and many others. All these bands that were so consequential in making me the metalhead that I am.

Towards the end I found myself getting emotional. Not what I expected. I loved Black Sabbath but I was not obsessed with them. I always loved listening to Ozzy’s solo stuff as well, but never obsessed, not like I am with Mastodon or Megadeth. Still, it was the end of an era. There would be no Mastodon and Metallica and all the others I mentioned without Black Sabbath and somehow that was hitting home. And all these bands I love are getting old two as the second and third generation of heavy metal. So am I.

Then Ozzy sang “Mama I’m Coming Home”, a hit from his solo career that did not seem long ago but alas, it was the 1990’s. 1991 in fact, on the “No More Tears” record. The song was always good enough to listen to back then, even when I preferred the more aggressive stuff; but tonight my eyes began to well up when he sang:

I've seen your face a thousand times
Everyday we've been apart
And I don't care about the sunshine, yeah
'Cause mama, mama, I'm coming home

Two things hit me hard; Ozzy has Parkinson’s and that is why it was a bit touch and go on whether he would be able to perform tonight. He sang from a chair and did surprisingly well, but you couldn’t help but think that he may not be with us for very much longer. But maybe that was okay as he would be reunited with his mom. “Mama I’m coming home.” The double whammy that makes me mist up even now, is that my mom died from Parkinson’s disease. Her hands shook like Ozzy’s did. She needed them both to sip her water just like Ozzy did. So never thought I would be comparing my mom to Ozzy Osbourne. My mom is a saint after all, and he is the proclaimed “Prince of Darkness”! Of course that was simply an adopted moniker to feed meat to the press. He may have had his demons in life, but he was a pretty sweet guy from everything I have seen of him.

All in all the show was very well done and it was a proper goodbye. If only we could all have a stadium chant back to us our own moments of genius. It was touching. And great bands will always have final shows, but none so great to the genre of heavy metal. To see the origin of what I have hung my hat on, to see them hang up their own hats for good is a strange feeling. I am grateful it was done so tastefully and that it was meaningful.