"My Buddy Ozzy"

Sometimes these blogs unfortunately write themselves

Sorry to crop you out of this one Tony and Geezer.

I met Ozzy many years ago after my brain tumour diagnosis. Of course it wasn't for very long and it was under unfortunate circumstances to say the least. I think if you asked anybody who would be gone first in that picture, it'd likely be me.

The "Prince Of Darkness" helped to shine a light on a very dark time for me.

I know that the music of Black Sabbath helped me so much during that time. It still does. But I didn't think that it would cause me the emotion that it's causing me now, to find out about Ozzy. It messed me up a lot more than I thought it would.

Black Sabbath will forever be my most listened to band even if the streaming services don't always show it. The first 5 Sabbath albums probably have wear and tear grooves burned in them by the needle of my record player.

It seems wrong to even just write a blog about it when these are usually so light-hearted. It also seems wrong to "capitalize on the situation" in a way. Though I've realized how much writing and sharing it does for me and potentially other folks. So now the first thing I do is write about it.

I know I've been tore up by musicians' deaths before, but this one feels personal. That picture was taken during "The End" tour so many years ago, glad there was another final show with all original members. My first concert experience was the show at the very top of my bucket list.

I knew "The End" for him was coming, but not this soon.

That "it doesn't seem real" cliche.

Always referred to as "my buddy Ozzy".

"You have to let your body sleep to let your soul live on"

- "A National Acrobat", Black Sabbath