‘Ozzy: No Escape from Now’ offers raw, tender farewell to the Prince of Darkness

In a deeply moving and unexpectedly intimate portrait, the new documentary Ozzy: No Escape from Now captures the final, defiant chapter of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, revealing not just the icon but the man beneath the myth as he battled illness, time, and his own mortality with grit, grace, and that unmistakable Osbourne wit.

Released Tuesday on Paramount+, the two-hour film chronicles the last six years of the Black Sabbath frontman’s life, from his Parkinson’s diagnosis to his emotional farewell concert at Birmingham’s Villa Park in June 2025, just weeks before his death at age 76. Now that Ozzy is gone, the documentary has transformed from a chronicle of resilience into a poignant love letter to a rock god who refused to fade quietly.

Directed by Tania Alexander and produced by Echo Velvet in close partnership with the Osbourne family and MTV Entertainment Studios, the film features candid, tearful, and often humorous interviews with Ozzy’s wife Sharon and their children Kelly, Jack, and Aimee, offering an unprecedented look at a family navigating fame, illness, and legacy in real time.

“Sharon’s honesty and involvement made this film possible,” said executive producer Phil Alexander, former editor of Kerrang! and a friend of the Osbournes for over 30 years. “You see all the vulnerabilities, the toll of Ozzy’s health struggles on him, on his music, and on his family. But you also see something extraordinary: how music became his lifeline.”

Indeed, one of the film’s most powerful moments shows Ozzy, frail yet focused, reconnecting with his voice during rehearsals for the Villa Park show. “When he was at his lowest, music had this restorative power,” Alexander said. “You literally see it happen in front of your eyes.”

The farewell concert, attended by tens of thousands and later followed by a city-wide procession as fans lined Birmingham’s streets to salute his coffin, was not about ego, Alexander insists. It was about gratitude. “Ozzy wanted to say thank you and goodbye,” he explained. “That’s a very different impulse. It came from love.”

And through it all, through tremors, hospital visits, and uncertainty, Ozzy’s legendary sense of humor never dimmed. “It’s intact right to the end,” Alexander said with a smile. “Even when he could barely stand, he’d crack a joke that would leave everyone in stitches.”

Now that Ozzy is gone, the film carries a new weight. “It was always meant to be a study in resilience,” Alexander said. “But now, it’s also a celebration, a final bow from a man who gave everything to rock ‘n’ roll and asked for nothing in return except to be heard one last time.”

Ozzy: No Escape from Now is streaming now on Paramount+. For fans, it’s not just a documentary. It’s a chance to say goodbye all over again, this time with tears, laughter, and the thunder of a final guitar riff echoing in the distance.