Zakk Wylde on His Final Performance with Ozzy Osbourne, Final Text He Received

Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde was on stage with his friend and mentor performing in his final solo set at Back To The Beginning on July 5. It was a bittersweet moment for Wylde.

"It was definitely pretty amazing," Wylde told Guitar World. "Seeing Oz onstage when Sabbath got done, that's the last time I saw him ... I’m blessed and grateful, man. Anything other than that would be selfish. And on top of it, to go out with what’s the biggest-grossing charity event of all? That’s unbelievable. He helped a whole lot of people instead of making a profit. My God, what an incredible master. What an incredible life."

Wylde kept his distance from Osbourne backstage at Back To The Beginning. His reasoning was because, "Everybody and their mother were in the backstage dressing room, and I just wanted to give him a break." He added, "I figured we’d see him later on – the next day or whatever. But no."

While Wylde didn't get quality facetime with Osbourne at Back To The Beginning, he received one last message from his close friend.

"The last text I got from Oz was saying, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you,’" said Wylde. "He goes, ‘Thanks for everything.’ It was just us talking, saying, ‘I love you, buddy.’ That was it.”

Following Osbourne's death on July 22, Wylde wrote on Instagram, "Thank you for blessing the world with your kindness and greatness Oz. You brought light into so many lives and made the world a better place. You lived with the heart of a lion. I thank the good Lord every day for blessing my life with you in it. I love you Oz."