Billy Corgan Reflects On Ozzy’s Death, Life + Legacy

“It’s an honor to talk about his legacy, but it’s still so sad. I just can’t believe it.”

Three days after the news broke of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, Billy Corgan joined Loudwire Nights (July 25) to process the grief and celebrate his life. Listen to the full conversation and watch the interview in the players near the end of this article.

“I still think of them as my band,” Corgan told host Chuck Armstrong about Black Sabbath.

“I know many people feel that way. Even when I watched them play [at Back to the Beginning], there’s this timeless quality … They don’t date. Even in listening to Sabbath, I didn’t feel sad like I thought I would feel. Sabbath comforts me with Ozzy dying. I don’t know how they do that.”

As Corgan shared that, he talked about how he explained Sabbath’s significance to friends leading up to Back to the Beginning.

“The word that I found myself using a lot leading up to the event was there’s such warmth with Sabbath,” he shared.

“There’s such an embracing love or something. It’s so hard to define, but they’re one of the only hard rock bands that has that. Somehow in the power and the majesty and all the thundering metal of the thing, it seems more inviting and more warm and more celestial. They’re almost like an inexplicable thing.”

A Moment With Ozzy That Billy Corgan Will Always Cherish

Corgan performed at Back to the Beginning on July 5 in Birmingham, England. He was part of one of the supergroups that day and covered Judas Priest‘s “Breaking the Law” and Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind” alongside Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Carey, Adam Jones and Adam Wakeman.

Though it was an understandably powerful moment for Corgan, he said the memory he’ll always cling to came the previous day.

“I watched them soundcheck and it was just me and another alternative musician whose name I haven’t shared because I want to respect their privacy,” Corgan recalled.

“It was just the two of us standing in an empty stadium watching Sabbath soundcheck for the last time. And we both started crying. We were both like, ‘Do we know what we’re watching here?’ You understand? This is the end of our band. It’s so personal.”

Corgan said Ozzy sang one song during soundcheck and then left the stage while Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward continued to play for 45 minutes.

“We [were] being granted this incredible audience,” Corgan said.

When Ozzy was on the stage, though, Corgan shared a moment that will forever stick with him.

“When he was out there in the chair, he gave us the classic Ozzy peace sign, just for me and this other guy. And we gave it to him back. That’s the thing I’m going to hold onto like a piece of gold for the rest of my life.”

He said that on the day of Back to the Beginning, he didn’t have a conversation with Ozzy. With so many artists and friends present, Corgan knew they all wanted to get time with Ozzy — and he and Sharon Osbourne had already talked about getting Ozzy on Corgan’s podcast when they were back in Los Angeles.

“I thought, I’ll just talk to him when I see him, he’s got so many people he needs to talk to,” Corgan said.

“When we had that little moment, it was like, okay, I at least had that one moment where he saw I was there. Heck yeah, right?”

Billy Corgan’s Hope For the Future Following Back to the Beginning

As Corgan reflected on Ozzy’s life and legacy and mourned his death, he also shared a powerful idea that he hopes fans and artists will embrace.

“Ozzy’s name doesn’t need to be kept alive, what I’m saying is keep the spirit alive of [Back to the Beginning],” he explained.

“The greatest artists in the world, and take me out of the equation, but the greatest artists in the world came together to celebrate one band and one artist in their final moment. All for charity. No one argued about their spot on the bill. It’s so rare, the love for this band and this singer is so unique. Let’s take that energy and drive it forward.”

For Corgan, one way to drive it forward is to re-create the power of Back to the Beginning.

“Every year, once a year, there’s almost like a pilgrimage where we all can get together,” Corgan said.

“If it can happen next year or two years from now, I’m just in the crowd enjoying the show. But the idea is to keep this thing going because…we care about what that band gave us. It’s such a fierce, fierce feeling. I’m publicly putting out the call. Let’s try to do this once a year. Let Sharon be the pope on the thing, obviously, but let’s do something selfless once a year for others and keep Ozzy’s spirit going forward, because that’s his true legacy.”

‘This Isn’t How the Movie Is Supposed to End’

Corgan’s love and respect for Ozzy was clear in the conversation. One thing he emphasized was how some of the world has chosen to remember Ozzy — his controversies, the antics on The Osbournes and other things.

But he hopes fans don’t get distracted by that.

“For us as fans, we get it,” he said.

“The bat biting, no, that’s not this guy’s legacy and fans should shout that stuff down. That is not part of the story. It’s on Wikipedia. You don’t get it, that’s not why we listened. We didn’t listen because we thought he was Aleister Crowley reincarnated. We listened because he’s one of us. He took us along for this ride.”

READ MORE: Kelly Osbourne Speaks Out For First Time After Ozzy’s Death

Unfortunately, on some level, that ride has come to an end with the loss of Ozzy. Corgan shared that he wasn’t expecting this to happen so soon.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if three months from now he would have put out a new single with Andrew Watt or something,” he admitted.

“He wasn’t going to roll over and say, ‘Okay, I’m supposed to go away now.’ I think we’re all just kind of like, this is not how the movie is supposed to end — but this is how the movie ends. At least part of it.”

Watch the Full Interview With Billy Corgan Below

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Billy Corgan joined Loudwire Nights on Friday, July 25; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.