Title: Last Rites: Never-before-told stories of a legendary life from the rock ‘n’ roll hellraiser
Author: Ozzy Osbourne
Publisher: Sphere/Hachette, 2025; RRP: $34.99
Review: Frank Thompson, December 2025; Ballarat Writers Inc. Book Review Group
“Husband, Father, Grandfather, Icon. 1948–2025.” This quote appearing on the back cover says it all, from Ozzy’s perspective. For the rest of the world the focus is on the word “Icon”. Ozzy Osbourne, frontman for Black Sabbath, the band often credited with establishing heavy metal as a music genre.
When I was young, a mate of mine lived in half an old house that backed onto a large church which rang bells on Sunday mornings, loudly, as if to re-sanctify the air after a Saturday night of very loud music from my mate’s custom-built sound system — Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and War Pigs and other tracks high on a play list saturated with heavy undertones of darkness. Were we protesting the established righteousness? I think not.
Last Rites is not Ozzy’s first memoir, but as he says, it would probably be his last, and so it turned out to be, the rocker bowing out at age 76 on 22 July 2025. The book covers his last years, from around 2018, and includes details of his last concert. The writing style is casual and friendly with Ozzy talking directly to the reader, relating the sequence of events mostly to do with his failing health, but there are lots of little side tracks into earlier events, reminisces, and anecdotes. These may have the odd spec of gold for the trivia buffs.
Ozzy is honest and candid in his recollections, though like anybody’s story I would assume there is omitted detail. This is a man who knows in his heart the end is getting closer and it is time to reconcile and be thankful. About halfway into the book Ozzy provides some advice on how to survive the music industry: “The way I look at it, if you’re in the music game for long enough, the best way to survive is, one, keep your sense of humour, and two, never, ever fall into the trap of believing your own bullshit. Because that’s fatal, every time.” Personally, I’d suggest this is good advice whatever game you are in.
Ozzy’s last gig, 5 July 2025
@ YOUTUBE
An attracter and creator of chaos, Ozzy developed a habit of hamming it up to gain acceptance early on in his life. The hamming escalated over the years; unfortunately, wild behaviour can have bad outcomes. However, I do not recall Ozzy bemoaning the bad things, accepting these as being the result of his own actions, and thankful things did not turn out worse.
While there is a lot of detail about the causes of his failing health and the various treatments, it is done in a light-hearted style. The portrayal of the American health system or lack thereof is interesting. It appeared to me that money does not guarantee the quality of the treatment.
One could be cynical and suggest this memoir is all part of the business of monetising Ozzy Osborne, but surely this is what being an icon is about. Ozzy is more than just a singer in front of a band. And there is a two-way contract between an icon and its fan base. The TV shows, the albums, and the memoirs: these contain the stuff that maintains the momentum of the fan base, giving them something larger than life to adore, talk about, and follow, distracting them from their own lives.
I read this book as a piece of light entertainment, a curiosity, but after reading it I got the impression there is a lot more to Ozzy than local boy makes the big time while partying wildly. When you strip away the bling and the outrageous bits, you are left with a normal well-meaning guy who doesn’t question his luck, tries his best and is happy to ride the wave. Now I understand the relevance of the opening quote.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
