I’ve just finished reading Last Rites by Ozzy Osbourne, and I’m sat here with tears streaming down my face and my dog Poppy resting her head on my lap as if she knows I need to be comforted. This book has absolutely wrecked me emotionally, but in the best possible way. If you’re a lifelong Ozzy fan like me, grab the tissues before you start reading, because you’re going to need them.

When I heard that Ozzy had been working on a follow-up to I Am Ozzy, I was both excited and terrified. Excited because I wanted to know more about the man who’d been my hero since I was 5 years old, belting out “Paranoid” at the top of my voice. Terrified because I knew it would cover his health struggles, and after watching that final Villa Park performance on 5 July 2025, I knew this book was going to be his final goodbye. And blimey, what a goodbye it is.

Raw, Unfiltered Ozzy – No Apologies

What I love most about Last Rites is that it’s quintessentially Ozzy. There’s no sugar-coating, no attempting to make himself look better than he was, no corporate sanitisation. It’s Ozzy in his own words, expletives and all, and that’s exactly how it should be. As someone who’s openly neurodivergent and has spent my entire life being told to “tone it down” or “fit in,” I’ve always admired Ozzy for being unapologetically himself. He was authentic before authenticity became a buzzword.

The book focuses on his final seven years, from 2018 when his “No More Tours II” farewell tour was derailed by health catastrophes, right through to those final precious days before he passed away in July 2025. It’s shocking at times. Reading about how he went from a finger infection to near-total paralysis from the neck down in a matter of weeks made my stomach turn. But it’s also bitterly hilarious in places, because that’s Ozzy for you – even when facing death, he finds the dark humour in it all.

A Working-Class Lad from Aston Never Forgets His Roots

One of the things that resonates most with me throughout Last Rites is how Ozzy never forgot where he came from. He was born John Michael Osbourne in Aston, Birmingham on 3 December 1948, a working-class lad who somehow became one of the most famous rock stars in the world. But he never got too big for his boots, never tried to be something he wasn’t. As someone from the Midlands myself (Birmingham is only half an hour north of me), I feel such pride knowing that our region produced this legend.

When he writes about his determination to get back on stage for that final “Back to the Beginning” concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, you can feel how important it was for him to say goodbye in his home city. That wasn’t just a concert, it was a homecoming. A pilgrimage. I watched that livestream on 5 July from my sofa with my home cinema system deployed, and I sobbed my heart out. Reading about what it took for him to get there – the fight, the pain, the sheer bloody-mindedness – makes me cry all over again even now.

Sharon: The Love Story That Saved Him

If there’s one thing Last Rites makes absolutely clear, it’s how much Ozzy loved Sharon. Their relationship was complicated, messy at times, but utterly real. Sharon saved him, pure and simple. She took a self-destructive addict and helped him become a man who could finally show his emotions, who could tell people he loved them without being scared.

The section where Ozzy talks about reconnecting with Bill Ward after a decade of not speaking absolutely broke me. When Ozzy tells Bill “I love you,” and Bill responds, “I love you too, Ozzy, you fucking lunatic,” I had to put the book down and have a proper cry. As Ozzy says in the book, that’s one of the great things about getting older, you stop being as scared of showing your emotions.

That hit me hard. As someone diagnosed with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia, I’ve spent my whole life struggling with expressing emotions and navigating relationships. Seeing Ozzy, the Prince of Darkness himself, talk so openly about love and vulnerability gives me hope that it’s never too late to change, never too late to tell people what they mean to you.

The Honesty About Health: No Pity, Just Reality

What I appreciate most is that Ozzy doesn’t want pity. Throughout the book, even when he’s describing the most horrific health setbacks from the Parkinson’s, to the spinal surgeries, the infections and the pain – he never plays the victim. He just tells it like it is. And that’s so important.

When I wrote about the Villa Park concert before it happened, I said that if anyone criticised Ozzy’s voice or performance, I would NOT be impressed. The man was 76 years old, ravaged by Parkinson’s and spinal issues, and he was still getting up there to perform for his fans. In Last Rites, you see exactly what that cost him. The determination. The stubbornness. The love for his fans that drove him to push through agony.

As someone who lives with complex PTSD and the daily challenges of being neurodivergent, I understand what it’s like when your body and brain don’t cooperate. Reading about Ozzy’s struggles made me feel less alone. If Ozzy Osbourne can fight through paralysis and Parkinson’s to say goodbye to his fans, then I can bloody well keep fighting through my own battles too.

The Stories: From Keith Moon to Final Days

Last Rites is packed with stories – some hilarious, some heartbreaking, all utterly Ozzy. The anecdotes about Keith Moon, Bon Scott, Steve Marriott, and other fallen rock legends are gold. These weren’t just colleagues to Ozzy; they were mates, and you can feel the grief in his words when he writes about them.

But it’s the final chapters that destroy you. Jack Osbourne mentioned in interviews that his dad finished the last chapter just days before he passed away. Reading those words, knowing they were some of the last things Ozzy wrote, feels sacred somehow. Like we’re being trusted with something precious.

Why This Book Matters

Last Rites isn’t just another rock star biography. It’s a meditation on mortality, on what it means to have lived a life at extremes. It’s about resilience, about fighting when every part of you wants to give up. It’s about love, family, and the bond between a performer and their fans. It’s about a working-class lad from Birmingham who became a legend but never stopped being himself.

Ozzy writes: “People say to me, if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now, would you change anything? I’m like, fuck no. If I’d been clean and sober, I wouldn’t be Ozzy. If I’d done normal, sensible things, I wouldn’t be Ozzy.” That quote sums up the entire book. No regrets. No apologies. Just Ozzy.

My Verdict

Last Rites is essential reading for any Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath fan. It’s brutally honest, frequently hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming. Yes, you’ll cry. Yes, it’s hard to read at times. But you’ll also laugh, and you’ll finish it with even more respect and love for the Prince of Darkness than you had before.

This book is Ozzy’s final gift to his fans – his truth, his story, his goodbye. And what a goodbye it is. Reading it feels like sitting down with Ozzy for one last conversation, hearing his voice in every word (expletives included), and understanding just how much he loved his fans and appreciated the extraordinary life he’d been given.

If you only read one rock biography this year, make it this one. Just have the tissues ready.

Thank you, Ozzy, for sharing your final chapter with us. You lived loud, you fought hard, and you said goodbye in style – just like you did at Villa Park. The book is as honest and real as you were, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Forever in our playlists. Forever in our hearts. 🖤🤘

Rating: 10/10 – An unflinching, authentic, and deeply moving farewell from a true legend.