Kiss star Gene Simmons fought back the tears as he paid tribute to ‘English gentleman’ Ozzy Osbourne on Wednesday’s episode of BBC Breakfast – before calling out host Sally Nugent for an awkward blunder.
The rock star, 75, appeared on the programme to speak about the late Ozzy to presenters Sally and Jon Kay, 55.
On Tuesday (July 22) it was revealed that Black Sabbath singer Ozzy had died ‘surrounded by love’ at the age of 76.
Gene – who met Ozzy as they rose to fame in the music industry back in the 70s – had some lovely words to say about his friend.
The star recalled the moment that they met, saying on the show: ‘I first ran into Ozzy in Sabbath in 1974, Sabbath has been around a year or two before our little band.
‘I remember we’re playing Boston and we got the flash pods and all that stuff and I’m waiting for this Black Sabbath to come on, l thought “wow this is going to be something else”.
‘And in the hall way I ran into Ozzy… he was, I don’t know how to say this, he was an English gentleman.
‘”Hello nice to see you, see you after the show”. On stage, the Jekyll and Hyde of stage – off stage sweet as can be, on stage, a mad man.
‘”Everybody go crazy!” It was just unbelievable.
‘As the decades went on… and Ozzy…’
The star then got very emotional and stopped talking.
He then explained: ‘Sorry, I got chocked up. Sorry about that.’
Gene continued: ‘As the decades went on, Ozzy and Sabbath, and of course, Ozzy got bigger and bigger.
‘One day, our family went to see a movie, ahead of us were the Osbournes, and Ozzy turned around and you’d expect perhaps “How’s the tour going? How many people are turning up? How much money?” Business talk.
‘It wasn’t like that at all. It was families talking about how are the kids?’
During the chat Sally made a huge blunder.
Ozzy attended the Back to the Beginning gig on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham.
Black Sabbath were formed in 1968, made up of members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, alongside Ozzy.
Sally said: ‘You were at the [Black Sabbath] concert two weeks ago…’
To which Gene replied: ‘No I wasn’t.’
An awkward Sally said: ‘Oh right, okay, but did you see the images?’
‘Yes. I saw the whole thing,’ Gene replied.
Sally said: ‘It’s incredible, isn’t it, to think he was on stage so recently.’
Some took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their shock at Sally’s mistake.
‘Silly Sally – I know you were a couple of weeks ago… Gene – I wasn’t.’
‘And Sally says ‘You were at the concert 2 weeks ago’… ‘No I wasn’t’… why do we have to put up with this not so funny Bridget Jones?’
Ozzy died ‘surrounded by love’ at the age of 76, a statement from his family said.
The Black Sabbath frontman performed from a throne on stage at Villa Park in Birmingham less than three weeks ago.
In a statement, his family said on Tuesday night: ‘It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.
‘He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.’
The rocker was able to bid an emotional farewell to his fans on stage this month as he reunited with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005.
‘You’ve no idea how I feel – thank you from the bottom of my heart,’ Osbourne told the crowd in his final speech.
The music legend vowed, however, that it would be his final ever performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson’s in 2020.
The star was a titan of music who somehow survived controversies that would end the careers of many others, and weathered health problems that would leave most of us on our backs.
Whether it was biting the head off both a bat and a dove, snorting a line of ants or urinating on a US war memorial while wearing one of his wife Sharon’s dresses, Osbourne was defined by his antics both on and off stage.
The singer, who sold more than 100 million records, will forever be synonymous with the heavy metal band he formed in his home city of Birmingham in 1969.
With hits that included Iron Man, War Pigs and Paranoid, Black Sabbath’s pushing of occult themes proved both hugely popular and controversial, with a future pope even condemning Osbourne for his ‘subliminal satanic influence’.
