“We will all miss him, but his music will live on”
“Close My Eyes Forever,” the powerful duet between Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne released in 1989, gave each artist their first Top 10 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the wake of Ozzy’s passing on Tuesday (July 22nd), Ford said that the metal icon changed her life, while also dedicating the song to him at her concert on Wednesday.
Ford checked in with SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk the day after Ozzy’s death (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), telling the host, “He changed my life, from the time I was 13 years old going to [a] Black Sabbath concert. That was it. That was the day and the night the light bulb went off over my head, and I just thought, ‘I have to do this. This is what I wanna do…. And so that night I came out of there, and I knew what I was gonna do with my future.”
As for the hit duet, Ford noted, “It’s just really ironic that I got to have a Top 10 hit single with Ozzy. And I have to say it was one of the highlights of my life. And we will all miss him, but his music will live on. And that’s what we have to do, is just focus on the music and all the good things that he’s left everybody.”
She added, “And I’m sure he would’ve probably been gone a long time ago if not for [his wife and manager] Sharon. I mean, Sharon was the best, and she took good care of Ozzy, and so she kept him going and she made him into the superstar that he is today.”
Just weeks prior to his passing, Ozzy had declared that “Close My Eyes Forever” was the best duet he had ever recorded.
At her concert at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, England, on Wednesday, Ford dedicated “Close My Eyes Forever” to Ozzy, asking fans to hold their phone lights up in honor of the metal legend. That performance can be seen below, along with the song’s original music video.
Watch the video down below and don’t forget to share this beautiful song with your friends and family…
