Ozzy Osbourne died this week at the age of 76, triggering an outpouring of love for the Black Sabbath in his beloved Birmingham and around the world

Late rock icon Ozzy Osbourne “knew his days were numbered” when he performed his farewell gig – one of his rock star friends has revealed. Ozzy, who died on Tuesday, treated the Back To The Beginning show as his personal “celebration of life” – surrounded by those he loved.

And praise was also showered on his devoted wife Sharon for organising the show so “the world could say goodbye” to Ozzy.

The incredible new insight comes from Megadeath founding member David Ellefson, who hung out with the late Brummie artist and performed at the Villa Park gig and at many shows with his pal Ozzy over the last two decades.

Ozzy was ecstatic revelling in the finale’s success at the after party with stars, including Slash and Axl Rose, being able to “say goodbye to him.”

Ellefson, bassist and songwriter of Megadeth, added that Ozzy showed signs of nerve damage from the disease with his leg shaking , but was fully “coherent” during his farewell. Ellefson, who had toured many times with Ozzy, described the Brummie icon as “the Elvis of heavy metal”.

Sharon Osbourne pulled out all the stops to give Ozzy the farewell he deserved(Image: Getty Images)

He revealed how the VIP after party of BTTB felt like a wake with Ozzy as the main attraction.

He explained “It really felt like this was the celebration of life before this inevitable day that happened right? Because Ozzy knew it, right? We’ve seen the videos online. He knew his days were numbered.

An emotional Ozzy waves to the crowd at the Back To The Beginning Concert just weeks before his death(Image: Ross Halfin)

“And God bless Sharon for just keeping it going and giving him something to look forward to.

“The fact that he got to say goodbye, the fact that we all got to say goodbye to him. In my opinion, not trying to be morbid. I’m being celebratory here. We got to have the celebration of life before he passed.

“I mean, what a beautiful thing.

“And I was just thinking, God bless Sharon and all those people that did this because for the world to get to say goodbye to Ozzy. Because we knew this day was coming. This isn’t as shocking as it is – we knew it was coming.

Ozzy performed for the last time earlier this month with Black Sabbath(Image: PR Supplied)

“And so to just have had that moment, all of us together, whether we were on the stage, in the audience, watching it on TV or now, the social media posts, that is the shot around the world, man, that’s taken over the world, that event.

“And so for all of us, I mean, what a great way to say goodbye. It just was a beautiful thing that will live with all of us forever.”

Ellefson, who sounded emotional on air, made his insightful comments on the Sirius XM Ozzy’s Boneyard all day tribute radio show for the star.

He played in Supergroup A at the gig, and recalled Ozzy’s joy at the after show VIP “It was super cool, and they’d bring Ozzy in and family’s there and standing right up front and he saw me and he said, ‘Hey, come here. Come here’. He signals me over. So I kneeled down and have a quick chat with him. And I said, ‘man, that was fricking awesome you did great.

“And he was happy. He had that after show glow (corr) that we all have, right?

“It seemed like he wanted to hang out all night. And then of course, Jack shushes everybody, and right in front of us Sid’s proposing marriage to Kelly.

“And oh my God, it was like, we’re in the Osbourne living room watching this intimate moment. And I shot a little video of it on my phone. And I was just looking at it while going,’God, there he was, man, just a couple weeks ago. there’s Ozzy just sitting in his chair. He is smiling. His leg was shaking a little bit like it was,.

“And it was just such a glorious, happy, happy moment.

“And so that’s the Ozzy I remember, not even the rockstar, just that guy. “

Ozzy’s family announced he had died in statement on Tuesday which shocked the music world, as it came just over two weeks after the Back To The Beginning show at Villa Park.

The statement said: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report

that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.

Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.”