GUS G Wasn't Bothered By The Fact That He Wasn't Invited To Perform At OZZY OSBOURNE's Final Concert: 'I Realized That I Probably Wasn't Needed There'

In a new interview with Victor M. Ruiz of the Signals From Mars podcast, Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G, who served as Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2017, was asked if he was invited to the "Back To The Beginning" charity event, which took place on July 5, 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The concert marked the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH's last-ever performance and Ozzy's final appearance as a solo artist. Gus said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, no. I wasn't asked."

Pressed about whether that was "bittersweet" to him, Gus replied: "Not as much, man. And I don't want this to come off the wrong way — of course I would've loved to be there. Who wouldn't? Don't get me wrong — I would've definitely loved to be there. I really wanted to see Ozzy one last time, to give him one last hug. But at the same time, I realized that probably I wasn't really needed there. There were so many people there. So this is one factor. So it didn't really bother me in that sense. My mindset was more as a fan. When I saw the press release, I'm, like, 'Oh, cool. Ozzy's finally doing his last show. This is cool.' Because I know how much he really wanted to get back on stage. I'm like, okay, this is cool. He finally decided he is gonna do this, and he's gonna go out in the biggest way possible.' So as a fan, I was like really excited. And then the second thing was, man, I had my kid the day before the show in Birmingham. We were expecting my first baby. So, yeah, I think even if I was invited, I probably would've had to sit out of the rehearsals or something. I think it was one of those situations where I came to the realization, 'Well, this is really not meant to happen for me. I have really something much more important that I should be attending.'"

After Ruiz noted that Gus is one of only five or six guitarists who have recorded full studio albums with Ozzy over the course of the legendary singer's career, Gus responded: "Yeah. And this is a good way to just look at things, because I hear this a lot about me with Ozzy, like, 'Oh. It's such a pity that you didn't do a follow-up.' 'It's such a pity you were not there on the last [show].' And I'm thinking, 'Well, you're trying to look at it from the half-empty glass.' I always think, like, how incredible, how fantastic that all this even happened for me. So how incredible that I even got to do a whole album. And I was originally signed to do an album and a tour, and I ended up being with the Osbournes for about seven years, playing on various tours and one-off shows and whatnot. So I got a lot more time with Ozzy on stage and off stage than I was offered originally or even promised. So, I have no complaints."

Addressing the fact that big hitters like Nuno Bettencourt, George Lynch, Alex Skolnick and Buckethead had all either been considered or auditioned for the Ozzy gig over the years and failed to secure the coveted spot, Gus said: "You hear all these stories from all these incredible legendary players, how they auditioned, they did one gig or they did one audition, they were offered the gig and then somebody changed their mind and those guys never got the gig. And I've read a lot of those stories since Ozzy's passing, a lot of stuff surfaced. I'm, like, 'Wow, they must have auditioned everybody' [laughs] 'in Hollywood. They must have, at some point, hired everybody and fired them.' [Laughs] So you see, just by putting all these stories together, how rare this was. Like, what were the chances of a guy like me, a kid from Greece, not even from America, from a small, small country, that has really no history in heavy metal to even get to that level, to be there in that room with them and to get the stamp of approval. So, to me, it means that everything, man. It's like one of those stamp of approvals that is for life."

In October 2022, Gus was asked in an interview with Czech Republic's Backstage TV how he looks back on his time with Ozzy. He said: "It was really good times. It was a really highlight of my career, obviously, playing at such a big level and, of course, to play with one of the fathers of this music, heavy metal. So, just to be a part of that legacy is incredible; it's mindblowing. I still cannot believe it happened. I learned a lot.

"I'm not a guy who thinks so much about the past," Gus explained. "I think I have evolved since then; I have become a better musician, better person, better performer. That was a big stepping stone for me. I look at those days with a lot of joy, and I have nice memories, nice feelings about Ozzy and Sharon [Ozzy's wife and manager] and the [rest of the] Osbournes; they treated me very nice. And it was some of the best years of my life with them; I got to see and experience things that not many musicians do, so I was lucky in that sense. But I'm doing my thing now and I've had my own thing for a long time. And I'm happy where I'm at in life right now."

In late 2021, Gus was asked by Guitar World how he found out he was no longer in Ozzy's group. "Sharon called me at home," he said. "I was kind of expecting it. They had announced a festival, and I was waiting to hear back what was going to happen. And then eventually, she gave me a call. I think it was in the middle of the night, because we have such a time zone difference. She called me in Greece, and said, 'I just wanted to let you know personally, so you don't find out online, we're going to do the farewell tour, and Zakk [Wylde] is coming back for that.' And I was, like, 'No worries at all. No problem.' And I thanked her for everything they had done for me. We're still on good terms, so, no problem at all."

In 2018, Gus told TrueMetal.it that "it was a little bit of a relief" to find out that Ozzy was getting back together with his longtime axeman Zakk Wylde. "I was just kind of tired of waiting around for all these years, not hearing anything about potential tours or recording activities," Gus said. "Of course, [Ozzy] was very busy with BLACK SABBATH — I understand that — but then in between of all that, there would be all these one-off [solo Ozzy] shows popping up and I had to make myself available for that. But there was never any… I felt like there was no… I didn't see stuff coming up for the future, you know? So, as much as I loved being in that band and working with him, in a way, it was a little bit of a dead end for me, speaking personally. Of course, now he's gonna go on a big tour again and do his farewell thing, and that's great for him, but it was not a creative thing for me."

It was announced in April 2017 that Wylde would be rejoining Ozzy's backing group for all his upcoming solo show dates. Osbourne's most recent touring lineup also included Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.

Gus, who played on Ozzy's 2010 album "Scream", told TrueMetal.it that part of his frustration stemmed from the fact that he wasn't told far in advance when his services would be needed by Ozzy, making it difficult for the guitarist to make long-term plans with any of his other projects. "There was never any definite announcement, like, 'Hey, guys, we're gonna see you next year' or something; it was always, like, 'We'll see what happens,'" he said. "So that's a bit of an uncertainty right there, and, of course, I had my own band [and] I had stuff to do, but I could never really book stuff too far ahead into the future just in case something [with Ozzy] came up. So it was really hard to get some info at some points… Anyways, you know, that's how it is; that was the situation. So, yeah, in a way, like I said, it was a relief, because now I can totally control what I'm gonna be doing, and that's a much nicer feeling."