Last Rites

Last Rites is an unfiltered, darkly funny, and deeply human memoir from one of the most iconic figures in music history—Ozzy Osbourne. Instantly debuting as a #1 New York Times bestseller, this book is not just the story of a rock legend, but the raw account of a man confronting mortality, legacy, and the cost of a life lived without restraint.

In 2018, Ozzy Osbourne stood at the peak of a triumphant farewell tour, filling arenas across the globe and receiving the kind of adoration reserved for true legends. Decades after redefining heavy metal with Black Sabbath and forging an outrageous solo career, Ozzy was still commanding the stage. Then, almost overnight, everything collapsed. A seemingly minor finger infection spiraled into a medical nightmare, triggering a cascade of health crises that left him facing near-total paralysis and forced him into isolation from the world he once ruled.

Last Rites chronicles this descent into physical devastation with brutal honesty and Ozzy’s trademark gallows humor. He spares no detail as he describes the fear, frustration, anger, and dark absurdity of watching his body betray him after a lifetime of excess. Yet this is not a story of defeat. It is a testament to stubborn survival, resilience, and the refusal to quietly fade away.

Alongside his health struggles, Ozzy reflects candidly on his extraordinary life—his chaotic rise from a working-class childhood in Birmingham to becoming the “Godfather of Metal,” his tumultuous marriage to Sharon Osbourne, and the wild choices that shaped both his genius and his demons. With characteristic bluntness, he rejects the idea of regret, acknowledging that the very chaos that nearly destroyed him is also what made him who he is.

The memoir builds toward an emotional and powerful finale: Ozzy’s return to the stage for Back to the Beginning, a globally streamed event that reunited him with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the final time. This moment serves as both a farewell and a reckoning—a reminder that even stripped of physical strength, the spirit that defined Ozzy Osbourne remains unbreakable.

Unflinching, profane, heartbreaking, and unexpectedly uplifting, Last Rites is more than a rock memoir. It is a meditation on identity, pain, family, legacy, and what it truly means to live without compromise. In facing the end, Ozzy Osbourne cements his place not just as a music icon, but as a modern folk hero—flawed, fearless, and unforgettable.