Category: biography

**Ozzy Osbourne Reveals His Dream Epitaph in Posthumous Memoir**

*Published Oct. 6, 2025, 6:00 p.m. ET*

Ozzy Osbourne has revealed his dream epitaph, joking darkly about his own death in his posthumous memoir while reflecting on his extraordinary final show, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The 76-year-old Black Sabbath frontman, who passed away at his Buckinghamshire home after years of illness, writes candidly about the end of his life and shares his hopes for what will appear on his tombstone.

### Osbourne’s Ideal Epitaph Revealed

In an extract from *Back to the Beginning* — his forthcoming memoir detailing his last concert at Villa Park in Birmingham before 42,000 fans — Osbourne describes feeling at peace with his mortality and shares his preferred epitaph.

“Between you and me, though, I’m thinking something short and sweet,” he says about his ideal inscription. “‘I told you I wasn’t feeling well’ should do the trick.”

The line is a nod to legendary British comic Spike Milligan, whose own epitaph reads the same but was inscribed in Irish to placate church authorities.

### Family Reflects on Osbourne’s Humor About Death

According to those close to him, Osbourne discussed the idea of his epitaph with his wife Sharon, 72, and their children Aimee, Kelly, and Jack in the months before his death.

“Ozzy always had that wicked sense of humor, even about death,” a family friend said. “He loved Spike Milligan and would often quote him. He felt that epitaph summed up his whole life — funny, self-deprecating, and a little bit rebellious.”

Another insider added, “Sharon hated him talking about the grave, but Ozzy was insistent. He said, ‘That’s me, that’s who I am.’ He wanted to make people smile even at the very end.”

### ‘Death’s Been Knocking at My Door’

Osbourne shared his ideal epitaph in the memoir after RadarOnline.com was first to reveal in July that he was penning his final words for his gravestone ahead of his last Black Sabbath gig.

In the book, Osbourne also recounts how close he came to missing his final show due to a string of health crises, including pneumonia, sepsis, and ongoing complications from Parkinson’s disease. Less than three weeks before the gig, doctors warned he might not survive.

“Death’s been knocking at my door for the last six years, louder and louder,” Osbourne writes. “And at some point, I’m gonna have to let him in. Not that I’m ready to go. But I’ve had a good run. I think I made a mark on the world. And I’m glad I didn’t check out early, like so many others.”

### Final Wishes and Reflections

His memoir also details his and Sharon’s decision to be buried together and his refusal to be cremated.

“When the end does come, I don’t want to be cremated,” he writes. “It’s like you were never here. You’re just a bag of dust. That’s not for me. I wanna make the flowers grow.”

Despite the somber subject matter, the book is filled with the same black humor and wild stories that made Osbourne a cult figure — from tales of smuggling jewelry on a transatlantic flight to rehearsing with the original Sabbath lineup for their “metal’s answer to Live Aid” final show.

But it’s his reflections on legacy and the afterlife that resonate most.

“People ask me what I think’s gonna happen in the afterlife,” he writes. “I say to ’em, I’ve no idea, but it won’t be long now, so if you hang around a bit, maybe I can haunt you and give you the answer.”
https://radaronline.com/p/ozzy-osbourne-reveals-dream-epitaph-in-emotional-memoir/