Tom Morello, musical director of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning farewell concert and former guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, just wanted to play a bit of pinball. He was there at the aftershow of the now-iconic gig with his son, just playing a game. Then, things took an odd turn.
As Morello played pinball with his son, he got a tap on the shoulder. Unknowing who exactly was trying to disrupt his game, Morello told the person to get off him. He needed to focus, after all, he was playing a multi-ball game.
As it turned out, though, the person tapping on Morello's shoulder was Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy Osbourne, and Jack explained to Morello that his dad wanted to say hello. When Ozzy called, people listened. Morello among them.
Tom Morello explains how he said goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne
As Morello explained at Rocklahoma Live:
"This is the last time I saw Ozzy. The day is done, it's been great, and people have been working on the show for a very long time and we're all hugging and crying...So I finish my game and it's like, 'Ozzy would like to say something.' I'm like, 'Oh my gosh.' First of all, Ozzy comes to the afterparty, which is crazy, right? And so I got to, one last time, kiss his head, tell him I love him, thank him for a lifetime of music and his reply was, 'Could you find Sharon? I want to get the f*** out of here."
Tom Morello added, "That's the perfect coda to the day."
He is completely correct, of course. Ozzy Osbourne was nothing if not original, but naturally so. He didn't try to be anything other than what he really was, and that was certainly great enough. We should all wish to be so brave as to show our truest selves.
Morello's decisions ahead of the Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath farewell are also exceedingly underrated. He added the right sweetness and spice to a show that might have been rather boring and underwhelming until the final Ozzy and Sabbath acts.
Instead, the entire concert was massively successful with hidden gems and unexpected collaborations. The best day in heavy metal history? Absolutely. And a great and long-lasting memory.
Even if Ozzy and Sabbath had not been involved, music fans who bought a virtual (or real) ticket to watch the icons play their final show would have gotten to see incredible acts such as Guns N' Roses and Metallica do their business. Those groups alone made the ticket worth it. Sabbath and Ozzy were simply icing on the cake.