Ozzy Osbourne Was 'Very Present and Coherent' During Black Sabbath's Final Show, Says Metallica Drummer: 'It Was So Warm'

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was lucky enough to have one last moment with Ozzy Osbourne before the heavy metal icon died at age 76 on Tuesday, July 22.

During a guest appearance on the Wednesday, August 6, episode of "The Howard Stern Show," Ulrich recalled what the energy was like backstage at Black Sabbath's final show just two weeks before Osbourne died of a heart attack following a yearslong battle with Parkinson's disease.

Host Howard Stern was joined by Ulrich for the special episode in an effort to pay tribute to Osbourne — one of the radio personality's favorite musicians and a longtime friend of the show.

When the episode began, Stern played Osbourne's song "Mama, I’m Coming Home," as he admitted: "Ozzy’s gone and I’m profoundly sad."

Calling the Prince of Darkness "one of the [most] fabulous guests" of all time, Stern invited Ulrich on the radio broadcast to give fans a glimpse inside Osbourne's last time on stage during the star-studded Back to the Beginning concert on July 5 in Birmingham, England.

Noting Ulrich always "had this complete love for Ozzy," Stern asked the Metallica drummer: "Did you have a sense he was going to be dead in a few days?"

"No, no… we hung, we said hello, we hugged," Ulrich explained. "He was very eloquent and very sharp in his answer."

"We were just sitting doing small talk, but it was so warm and he was very present, coherent. It was just his body that was not in good shape, but his mind… he was eloquent and talking and in the moment," the Danish musician added.

When the show was over, Ulrich said there were no long last goodbyes, as many thought it was just the closing of Osbourne's music chapter and not his life.

"Obviously it was the end of the music and the end of the live experience, but it wasn’t like… yes, he wasn’t in great shape, but nobody walked away from that three or four day weekend going, ‘that’s the last time we’ll see Ozzy,'" the "Nothing Else Matters" hitmaker admitted, calling later news of Osbourne's death "surreal" and his feelings "indescribable."

"We were all just so stunned," Ulrich said of himself, Metallica and other music legends who had taken part in Black Sabbath's final show. "So sad. But at the same time he got to live, to accomplish that concert and that appearance that had been in him since before COVID."

Ulrich continued: "He got up there, he played [five solo songs and four Sabbath songs]…. and I think probably if you’re going go play [a] little quarterback/psychiatrist, Monday morning, maybe it was just a load off his shoulders and he got to accomplish what he wanted and maybe he just sort of let go."