Ozzy Osbourne has recalled his times with former “king of partying” Lemmy Kilmister in a touching tribute to the star, who died on Monday (28Dec15).
Lemmy was diagnosed with terminal cancer on Saturday and, according to his manager, was given two to six months to live. However, he tragically passed away just two days later – four days after his 70th birthday on December 24.
Now fellow rocker Ozzy, who toured with Lemmy, has remembered his friend in a post for Rolling Stone magazine. Labeling him the former “king of partying”, the star recalls a time when Lemmy truly lived the rock and roll lifestyle.
“Me and Lemmy go back a long time. We used to have a standing joke with each other, ‘Which one of us is going to go first?’ But I curbed my ways, staying up all night and all that s**t, a long time ago,” Ozzy, 67, recalled.
“I remember when I did my first solo tour of America, and they were opening up for us. We had a lot of fun together. They would be partying every day. On that tour, I remember saying to Lemmy at one point, ‘Do you ever sleep?’ And he goes, ‘Well, not much.’ I go, ‘When was the last time you slept?’ He said, ‘Let me think. Ten, 12 days ago.’ I said, ‘You’re joking!’ If I stayed awake for two days, I would be absolutely screaming, crazy. But they used to go for it.”
His friend’s mentality when it came to life was simple: if you weren’t having fun, what was the point? Ozzy also revealed he’d spoken to Lemmy shortly before he lost his battle with the aggressive cancer.
“I phoned him up two days ago, and I couldn’t make out one word he was saying,” Ozzy wrote. “Yesterday, I got a text from his manager saying, ‘Lemmy’s on the way (out), and he wants to see some of his friends.’ So my wife and I were just about leaving the door and the text came saying he’d gone. It shook me up bad.”
He finished the tribute by expressing how “honored” he felt to have had Lemmy in his life.
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