It must have been some time in 1984 when my uncle, only a bit more than two years older than me, was to change my life forever. Sometime before then he had discovered heavy metal and he lent me some of his records.

He introduced me to many of my favourite metal acts; Metallica, Iron Maiden, Dio, Motorhead, Judas Priest and WASP among others, but there right in the middle was Bark at the Moon, Ozzy Osbourne’s third solo album. It blew my mind, but more importantly it was my introduction to Ozzy.

I was too young to appreciate Ozzy first time round. With Black Sabbath he had already released three albums by the time I was born. With Bark at the Moon, I came to appreciate Ozzy and inevitably tripped over Black Sabbath on my voyage of discovery, as the album became a point on a timeline (Dio’s Last in Line also sent me on a similar trajectory) from which l traversed time, both backwards and forwards.

As I travelled backwards in time, I uncovered Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and (early – Dio Era – before they became a pop band) Rainbow. There were other bands of course, but I also became an avid follower of what was coming and I discovered, no longer with my uncle’s guiding hand, bands such as Queensryche, Cinderella, Sabbat (the British one not the Japanese one) and Slayer (he was never a fan of Slayer himself) as well as more obscure bands such as Deep Switch.

Metal had won me over for life and it’s never going to change.

And there, right in the centre, was Ozzy. He was never as technically gifted a singer as Ronnie James Dio, who replaced him in Sabbath after leaving Rainbow and before he went on to form his own band, but while Ronnie represented a very quiet life lived in the background, Ozzy’s rockstar persona was larger than life.

Whether he be biting the head off a bat (ultimately an accident that came about because he thought it was a rubber bat) or a dove or peeing on the Alamo (again something he did without full knowledge or awareness of where he was) he was the personification of what a rockstar was. It was indulgent, with few limits, but he was a huge personality with a frankness about him that earned him respect the world over and whatever others thought of him on a superficial level he was gifted with an exceptional sense of humour and astute mind that was far removed from the, often bumbling, character that he came across as, especially in The Osbournes reality TV show.

Alongside Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward he has collectively been largely recognised as the inventor of heavy metal as a genre.

A WHOLE GENRE!!!

Not even the great Ronnie James Dio (who was credited with bringing the Devil’s horns heavy metal salute to Metal) or Metallica could lay such a claim. That aside he also had a more sensitive side and would throw in the occasional Ballard such as Goodbye to Romance, Changes and So Tired as well as Dreamer.

I was fortunate enough to see him live twice – I could almost argue three times even. The first occasion was the original UK Ozzfest in 1998 when he performed both with Black Sabbath (whose original line up had come back together in 1997) and a solo set (hence the twice on one occasion) and then I saw him perform, again with Sabbath in 1999, where they were supported, among others, by a then little-known band called System of A Down.

Live, he was a force to be reckoned with and I feel honoured and privileged to have been able to see him live both solo and with Sabbath, especially because I missed out first time round given my age.

Just a little under three weeks ago at Villa Park (home to Aston Villa Football club), close to where he was brought up, Back to the Beginning was to be his final gig. I have seen a video this morning, which frankly shocked me. I was initially unsure about the appropriateness of it, but given that it is Ozzy speaking with his own words I dispelled my initial concerns. Having watched the video, I have no idea how he even got on the stage and the sheer effort might even have hastened his departure from this world, but given his character he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

If the direct link doesn't work it can be seen here through your FB account - I haven't been able to find a direct link to it on YouTube

Retrospectively, it seems obvious that Back to the Beginning, was his swansong, his final goodbye to the world. Looking back, he was never going to be the kind of person who was going to retire. It just wasn’t in him.

It is only fitting that I let Ozzy have the final say with two more videos, both from the Back to the Beginning concert

“Mama I’m home now.”

Goodbye, Farewell and Thank you for everything Ozzy.