Kelly Osbourne on ‘huge loss’ of father Ozzy Osbourne on his 77th birthday
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Kelly Osbourne said today has been “an emotional one” as she spoke about the “huge loss” of her father, Ozzy Osbourne, during an interview on what would have been his 77th birthday.
The Black Sabbath frontman died aged 76 in July this year, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.
Speaking on BBC Radio West Midlands, Osbourne, 41, said: “I was at the bench watching them put the floral display up in the middle of the night, I haven’t slept.
“It’s been a bit of an emotional one for me.”
Hours earlier, she shared a post on Instagram that showed her sitting on the Black Sabbath bench in Birmingham, surrounded by floral tributes dedicated to her father.
She wrote: “Happy birthday daddy you most certainly did not die an ordinary man! Life without you is hard but not a day goes by that I don’t dedicate my life to loving you and your legacy! I miss you more than anything in the world. I love you until eternity! What I would not give to watch you blow out just one more candle.”
The reality TV star told presenter Ed James: “The bench means so much to him.
“To see the outpouring of love, and respect, and condolence, and just everything this city has given him, is beyond words.”
She added: “Birmingham meant everything to my father. It made him, it shaped him. It turned him into the one-of-a-kind man that he was.”
She was tearful during the interview as she remembered her father, and asked why he was so popular, she said: “He was the people’s person. He never changed.”
She called him a “working class hero”, adding: “He never thought he was better than anyone else.”
“It’s a huge loss,” she said.
Kelly’s mother, Sharon Osbourne, also paid tribute to her late husband with an Instagram post saying: “I will never let go of your hand until I see you on the other side.”
Sharon, who was married to him for 43 years, wrote: “My darling husband, I celebrate the day you were born.”
Kelly’s brother, Jack, 40, is currently a contestant on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and she posted a picture of them as children on her Instagram stories, saying: “I can’t lie today is really hard without my brother. I would give anything to just be able to talk to him! However he needs to keep kicking butt in the jungle!”
She also spoke about him on the radio, and said: “I’m so proud of him. He’s doing so well.”
Asked whether she thinks he will win the reality TV show, she said: “I don’t know – but to me he’s already won.
“I’m his biggest cheerleader.”
She added: “I have so much respect for him and what he’s doing, and especially at a time like this.
“I know that my dad is looking down on him so proud.”
Jack has spoken about his father in the jungle, and viewers saw him become emotional after he had a “delicate day”, when he was reminded it was four months since his death.
In the weeks before his death, Ozzy had taken to the stage as part of the Back To The Beginning concert, in which he reunited with his bandmates at Birmingham’s Villa Park.
Fans laid flowers at Black Sabbath Bench on Broad Street in the city and hundreds of fans paid their respects to him during a cortege procession on July 30th.