By Michael Moran

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne shared his poignant thoughts about the afterlife just weeks before his death. The so-called “Prince of Darkness” passed away on July 22 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease – less than a month after his triumphant Back to the Beginning show with Black Sabbath in their home city of Birmingham. In his posthumous autobiography Last Rites, set to be released on Tuesday (October 7), he spoke candidly about what he believed would greet him beyond death. The Black Sabbath icon confessed “I’ve no idea” what would occur before he died at 76 earlier this year. He penned: “People ask me what I think’s gonna happen in the afterlife. I say to ’em, ‘I’ve no idea, but it won’t be long now, so if you hand around a bit, maybe I can haunt you and give you the answer.’ As for what I want on my tombstone, that’s one of the subjects my family definitely won’t let me discuss.” Ozzy’s posthumous memoir was completed following the all-star Villa Park concert, which witnessed Sabbath deliver one final performance alongside metal’s biggest stars, including Metallica, Yungblud and Slayer. The father-of-six had previously discussed what he knew would be inscribed on his gravestone. He recognised there was no avoiding a notorious episode from 1982, when he was touring to promote his Diary of a Madman record. During a gig in Des Moines, Iowa, a fan lobbed what Ozzy initially mistook for a rubber toy bat onto the stage. It wasn’t until he popped the “toy” into his mouth and tore its head off with his teeth that he realised it was – or had been – alive. In a 2004 interview, Ozzy quipped: “I know what’s going to be on my tombstone, and there’s no getting around it: ‘Here lies Ozzy Osbourne, the ex-Black Sabbath singer who bit the head off a bat’.” In his 2010 memoir I Am Ozzy, he recounted the moment he recognised his error: “Something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid. Then the head in my mouth twitched.” However, Mark Neal, the 17 year old fan believed to have hurled the unfortunate creature onto the stage, maintains that it had died quite some time before the concert. Ozzy had always been utterly fearless on stage, but he admitted to feeling some anxiety ahead of what turned out to be his final show – the star-studded Back to the Beginning event in Birmingham on 5 July. As more and more huge names were added to the lineup, he said he began to feel the strain. Aware of his severe ill-health and concerned that he might be unable to perform, Ozzy tried to devise a contingency plan: “I kept saying to Sharon, ‘We’d better get a video made ‘cos there’ll be an empty stage.’ She just looked at me like I was mad. She knows me better than I do. She knew I was just scared.” Sharon, who had served as her husband’s manager since 1979, offered reassurance, telling him: “If you can’t sing on the night, just talk to the crowd and thank them. All you need to do is get up there and be Ozzy.” In his memoir, Ozzy confessed he harboured doubts about making it back to England for his farewell performance. He revealed: “Well, I made it. Back to England. Back to Birmingham. Back to the Beginning as my final gig was called. “For a while I was convinced my last trip home would be in a pine f***ing box. “I mean, I’ve got to be honest with you, when Sharon first mentioned the idea of the gig to me, I didn’t think there was much chance of me making it to 2025.” The rock legend explained that the overwhelming affection from the packed Villa Park audience provided the rush he had been seeking throughout his years battling addiction. “At Back to the Beginning, sitting on that throne, I felt at home, I felt at peace,” the former abattoir worker penned. “I felt comfortable. I’m gonna miss doing it, going on stage. It’s the only world I’ve known for 57 years. “There’s nothing better than a good gig. The roar of a crowd, man, it’s so contagious, so addictive. That’s the magic, right there. “It’s funny, I spent my whole life trying to get high from every substance known to man. But looking back now, I realise I was just trying to get back the feeling of when I was up there on stage, doing my job.” Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home airs tonight (Thursday, October 2) at 9pm on BBC One.