The only time Ozzy Osbourne met Axl Rose was planned by Slash – and here’s how he did it

Slash, the guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, described how he set up the one and only encounter between Axl Rose and Ozzy Osbourne, as per UCR. It happened backstage at Black Sabbath‘s Back to the Beginning performance in July 2025, which would prove to be Osbourne‘s final performance before passing away a few weeks later. Slash also disclosed that, despite their lack of time, he has discussed collaboration with the Prince of Darkness.

It was an amazing day, there was just such a massive feeling of warmth and cameraderie with all the different musicians. There was no attitude, there was no egos – all checked at the door – and it was the nicest get-together of musicians and crew and the fans. I’ve never experienced anything in my career that was as special as that particular event.

Everybody wanted to go back and pay homage to Ozzy. So I went back there, and I got Axl back there to meet Ozzy for the first time, because they’d never met each other. Axl, obviously, was always a fan of Ozzy. But what Axl didn’t know was that Ozzy was a huge fan of his! And so it was nice to see them actually meet.

Slash acknowledged that he and Osbourne had a brief conversation about collaborating once more.

Ozzy and I had been buddies for a long time and I’d recorded with him a bunch of times. So we talked on the phone about getting together and he says, ‘Yeah, we should get together soon.’ I guess it was about a week after the gig. I thought, ‘Okay, at some point we’ll converge in a studio somewhere,’ and that was it. I was off on the road with Guns; we went off and finished what we were doing. And then all of a sudden I got that f––g phone call. It was unbelievable.

Upcoming shows by Guns N’ Roses:

• Sunday, August 9, 2026 – Shakopee, MN, USA – Mystic Lake Amphitheater (with Public Enemy)
• Thursday, August 13, 2026 – East Rutherford, NJ, USA – MetLife Stadium (with Public Enemy)
• Monday, August 17, 2026 – St. Louis, MO, USA – Busch Stadium (with Public Enemy)
• Thursday, August 20, 2026 – Kansas City, MO, USA – Morton Amphitheater (with The Barbarians of California)
• Sunday, August 23, 2026 – Las Vegas, NV, USA – Allegiant Stadium (with The Black Crowes)
• Thursday, August 27, 2026 – Edmonton, AB, Canada – Commonwealth Stadium (with The Black Crowes)
• Sunday, August 30, 2026 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – BC Place (with The Black Crowes)
• Thursday, September 3, 2026 – San Diego, CA, USA – Snapdragon Stadium (with The Black Crowes)
• Sunday, September 6, 2026 – Pasadena, CA, USA – Rose Bowl Stadium (with Ice Cube)
• Thursday, September 10, 2026 – Arlington, TX, USA – Globe Life Field (with Pierce the Veil)
• Sunday, September 13, 2026 – Ridgedale, MO, USA – Thunder Ridge Nature Arena (with The Barbarians of California)
• Thursday, September 17, 2026 – San Antonio, TX, USA – Alamodome (with Pierce the Veil)
• Sunday, September 20, 2026 – Atlanta, GA, USA – Truist Park
• Thursday, June 4, 2026 – Gliwice, Poland – PreZero Arena Gliwice
• Saturday, June 6, 2026 – Gliwice, Poland – PreZero Arena Gliwice
• Wednesday, June 10, 2026 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
• Saturday, June 13, 2026 – Donington, United Kingdom – Download Festival 
• Thursday, June 18, 2026 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
• Saturday, June 20, 2026 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
• Tuesday, June 23, 2026 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Arena
• Thursday, June 25, 2026 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Arena
• Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Antwerp, Belgium – AFAS Dome
• Wednesday, July 1, 2026 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
• Friday, July 3, 2026 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
• Wednesday, November 25, 2026 – Singapore, Singapore – Singapore National Stadium
• Sunday, November 29, 2026 – Adelaide, Australia – BP Adelaide Grand Final
• Wednesday, December 2, 2026 – Townsville, Australia – Queensland Bank Arena
• Saturday, December 5, 2026 – Brisbane, Australia – Suncorp Stadium
• Tuesday, December 8, 2026 – Newcastle, Australia – McDonald Jones Stadium
• Friday, December 11, 2026 – Melbourne, Australia – Marvel Stadium
• Monday, December 14, 2026 – Sydney, Australia – ENGIE Stadium
• Thursday, December 17, 2026 – Auckland, New Zealand – Eden Park

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