Ozzy Osbourne died 17 days after his spectacular farewell concert in July, an event that had millions of metalheads in big, beautiful tears over his legacy. It’s doubtful, though, that Osbourne would’ve made the trek to Birmingham, England — or, to be more blunt, still been alive — if it weren’t for the intensive physical therapy he received in the months leading up to the concert. Such is revealed in Ozzy: No Escape From Now, a documentary whose creators had unbridled access to the Osbourne family and their patriarch for the past four years. (It’s now available to stream on Paramount+.) Initially conceived as a project to chronicle Osbourne’s recovery and career bounce-back following a fall in his home in February 2019, No Escape From Now has since morphed into a posthumous opus that ends with the Back to the Beginning send-off in his hometown. There’s also an unexpected detour that chronicles Osbourne’s solo induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in late 2024, which he almost wasn’t cleared to travel to by doctors due to severe blood clots in his legs.
Those legs were spiritually in Lululemon leggings for most of 2025. In order to maintain his strength in the lead-up to Back to the Beginning — Osbourne joked several times that he could no longer build strength, given, well, his batty lifestyle choices in the past — he hired a live-in physical therapist to get him into good-enough working order. The documentary shows him and the therapist, Gary Viles, making use of a Pilates reformer machine to get his lower body and core into a state of movement. “It’s a slow process. I’m not a very good patient,” Osbourne said. “I wanna get it over and done with. I go from nought to fucking 300 in one day. I wonder why I can’t walk the next day, you know.” Viles would guide Osbourne, makeup free and in a sweatband, through rounds of basic footwork and spring changes. Just add a caffè latte and he could’ve been on track to becoming a West Village Girl.
“Obviously, one of the objectives is to get him functionally capable for the concert, but more importantly for me is to enhance his overall health for the rest of his life,” Viles explained. “I want to get Ozzy healthy.” At that point, Osbourne was using a cane to walk and suffered from Parkinson’s disease in addition to various other ailments that had plagued the rocker since his fall. Sometimes he used a wheelchair if he was having a particularly bad day because of his spinal damage. “All I can say is I’m working my balls off to get myself ready for the Villa,” Osbourne explained, referring to the benefit concert’s venue. “I want to feel confident enough to pull it off. Because it’s gotta be the fucking best show in the world. It’s gotta be just the best show in the world when I do it. Otherwise, what’s the point in doing it?” His eldest daughter, Aimee Osbourne — who refused to appear on The Osbournes and has maintained a life out of the public eye — enjoyed seeing the men develop an unlikely friendship as their sessions progressed. “Gary couldn’t care less about who he is or who he’s not,” she said, “and just sees a person that has the ability to overcome this and knows exactly how to get him through those moments where he’s about ready to throw the towel in.”
Osbourne, of course, was able to ride the crazy train straight to Back to the Beginning, where he reunited with his Black Sabbath brothers and watched 17 other acts — including Metallica and Guns N’ Roses — pay their respects to his metal holiness. (He even did a five-song set of his own hits, perched on a custom throne festooned with bats.) The concert reportedly raised 140 million pounds for various charities selected by Osbourne, who would later die, surrounded by his family, on July 22. That’s one hell of a way to go out.
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A new documentary reveals that his final concert preparations involved “working my balls off” on the reformer.
