Jack Osbourne’s Heartbreaking Farewell to Dad Ozzy Osbourne: “My Heart Is Filled with So Much Sadness”

One week after the passing of heavy metal pioneer Ozzy Osbourne, his son Jack Osbourne took to Instagram to express his profound grief, tender reminiscences and lasting gratitude for the man he called Dad.

“I haven’t felt like sharing anything since my father’s departure. My heart has been too heavy,” wrote Jack, 39, one of three children Ozzy had with wife and manager Sharon Osbourne. “I’ll keep this brief—Dad never tolerated long, winding speeches. He meant so much to countless people, and I was fortunate to be among the select few to call him ‘Dad.’”

Jack accompanied his message with a touching video montage spanning his lifetime with Ozzy: from a childhood cameo on the Howard Stern Show in 1997—when Jack declared, “Having Ozzy as a dad is very cool”—to playful shoulder rides, reality-TV hijinks and behind-the-scenes moments on tour. The sequence unfolds to Ozzy’s wistful, Beatles-inspired ballad “So Tired” from his 1983 solo album Bark at the Moon.

On the song’s poignant refrain—“Time has come to say goodbye / I know it’s gonna make you cry / But you belong to another, my love”—Ozzy’s voice drifts over mournful strings. The Black Sabbath icon died July 22 at age 76 from cardiac arrest and coronary artery disease.

“My heart overflows with sorrow and love,” Jack continued. “I was blessed with 14,501 days alongside that extraordinary man. Every single one was a gift.” He then invoked Hunter S. Thompson’s famous credo from The Proud Highway: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body… but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a ride!’”

The montage concludes with candid snapshots of Ozzy grinning with his children and grandchildren, archival footage of him guiding a young Jack in bowing to an audience, and scenes from the July 5 all-star “Back to the Beginning” concert in Birmingham, England—Ozzy’s final performance. Jack also included an irreverent floral tribute from the private funeral: “Ozzy F—king Osbourne.” “He lived fully,” Jack wrote. “I love you, Dad.”

His tribute arrives just days after sister Kelly Osbourne posted her own thanks: “I’ve drafted this a hundred times and still don’t know if the words will ever feel adequate… but thank you. Your love, support and messages have carried me through the hardest moment of my life. I won’t be okay for a while—but knowing we’re not alone in our pain has made all the difference.”

Watch Jack’s video here.

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