'Hilarious, Friendly, Self-Deprecating, Zero Let Down' — Henry Rollins Celebrates Ozzy Osbourne

"The world was a great place with Ozzy in it. And it is still great — but it's not as great without Ozzy."

Henry Rollins has long been an evangelist for the music of Black Sabbath and on Tuesday (July 29), he joined Loudwire Nights to continue spreading the good word while celebrating the life and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne.

Listen to the full conversation — including stories about how Black Sabbath informed Rollins' entry into Black Flag, what it was like witnessing the band's rehearsals for their reunion shows in the late-'90s, how Sabbath ended up writing "Paranoid" and so much more — via Loudwire Nights On Demand on Apple and Spotify.

"He's just one of those great people who is loved by a lot of people who never had the chance to meet him, but who knew him because of the records and the shows and the things he would say from the stage," Rollins shared.

"It's not a put-on. You can see from the interviews that the guy onstage is the guy offstage. That was Ozzy and that's why we love the guy, because he was real. He was a showman — but he wasn't putting on a show."

As Rollins processed the death of Ozzy with the Loudwire Nights audience, he also spent time lifting up the power of Black Sabbath's work.

"If you want to talk about heavy metal music, go ahead, talk," he said.

"You're going to have to mention Black Sabbath or someone else will pull you to the side [and say], 'Sir, you didn't say Black Sabbath' ... They kind of started a thing that informs festivals like Wacken, that informs entire radio stations, record collections and bands the size of Metallica."

When Henry Rollins Opened For Ozzy

In 1996, Rollins got a call from his manager asking him if he and his band wanted to fly from New York to Florida to play a few shows with Ozzy on the Retirement Sucks tour.

Rollins said he answered so fast he nearly sprained his jaw.

"We played our set, the Floridians tolerated us," Rollins said, smiling.

"They wanted Ozzy and for some reason, Type O Negative opened for us — it should have been the other way around. We both opened, no one killed us."

He recalled showering after Rollins Band's set and then running back to the stage to watch Ozzy's show.

"I'm standing on the side of the stage right, audience left, and it's just me and Ozzy," Rollins remembered.

"I just met him, I'm not going to approach him. He's about to go onstage, so I just kind of hover nearby just to watch the man."

As he watched him, he had no idea that he was about to experience the surprising, humble nature of Ozzy.

"He turns to me and he looks at me, he's like, 'Hey, is there anybody out there, man?' And I went, 'What crazy question is that?' The place holds 22,075 people, I said, 'Yes, sir, you sold it out.'"

Ozzy admitted to Rollins that he still got nervous before shows and was always worried nobody would show up.

"That's pretty damn humble to me — and he wasn't faking it," Rollins said.

"And then Sharon comes out, 'Go,' and he runs out there. Upon sight, the place makes this sound of like the Earth ripping in half. The place rumbles with human approval."

'We've Got the Music' — Carrying Ozzy's Legacy Forward

When Rollins was on Loudwire Nights, Ozzy's death was only a week old. Though Rollins shared countless stories and memories, it was clear his biggest focus was simply to celebrate the rock and roll icon.

"I've had a couple of days to kind of mull it over and it's one of life's eventualities," he shared.

"But we've got the music. At least we have that."

Rollins told Chuck that he's not necessarily a "go to tears guy," but the death of Ozzy really hit him hard.

"I miss that guy," he said.

"I met him a bunch of times and he was never anything less than hilarious, friendly, self-deprecating. He was zero let down."

READ MORE: Billy Corgan Reflects on Ozzy's Death, Celebrates His Life

As for pushing forward, Rollins had a very clear directive to share with listeners: keep celebrating.

"Make sure you're well over 50-percent in celebration mode because there are still records to play and they're still as awesome as they were," he said.

"The music remains in the present tense."

Listen to the full conversation via Loudwire Nights On Demand on Apple and Spotify.

Henry Rollins joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, July 29; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.