Tom Morello, the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, has shared his thoughts on the death of Ozzy Osbourne, the iconic Black Sabbath frontman who passed away on July 22 at the age of 76. Morello, who served as the musical director for Osbourne's farewell show in Birmingham, England, on July 5, believes that Osbourne knew his time was near.

Morello revealed that Osbourne's final concert, "Back to the Beginning," was an emotional experience, and he felt that Osbourne sensed it would be his last performance. "If you have got to go — I mean, I wish Ozzy lived another 30 years — but if you've got to go out, it really felt like he knew," Morello said during an appearance on Chicago's Q101 radio show. He added, "The fact that he lived to play and feel that love and to one more time... You know, to do Paranoid; to do Crazy Train...it really felt like he knew".

The "Back to the Beginning" concert was held at Villa Park in Birmingham and featured a short solo set by Osbourne before he was joined by his Black Sabbath bandmates. The event was livestreamed to 5.8 million viewers worldwide and raised money for charities, including Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Acorn Children's Hospice.

Morello described Osbourne's death as a "tragedy" but acknowledged that it was a "miracle" he "lived as long as he did" because he "lived a pretty on-the-edge lifestyle for a long time". He noted that Osbourne had been "frail for a while," and his friends had met with him a week after the concert.

Many fans who attended or watched the livestream of the Birmingham gig shared similar sentiments, believing that Osbourne knew he was dying and was determined to perform one last time. One viewer claimed that "Ozzy knew he was only days from passing away, and still pulled through with the most legendary concert in recent history". Social media was flooded with praise for the gig, with some calling it "the most moving moment in metal history".

Osbourne's official death certificate listed the cause of death as "acute myocardial infarction" and "out of hospital cardiac arrest," with coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease with autonomic dysfunction listed as contributing factors.

Morello, reflecting on the concert, said, "On the day, a million things could have gone wrong, and maybe like three things did,". He added, "But it felt like a spiritually great moment for all fans of rock and roll". He considered Osbourne "one of the all-time greats".

In a five-star review for The Independent, critic Mark Beaumont called the gig a "celebration of the delicious darkness Osbourne and his coven unleashed over five decades ago, and the behemoth it's become".