How Slash Arranged Ozzy Osbourne and Axl Rose’s Only Meeting

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash explained how he arranged Ozzy Osbourne and Axl Rose’s one and only meeting.

It took place backstage at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert in July 2025 – which would turn out to be Osbourne’s last show before his death a few weeks later.

And Slash revealed he’d spoken to the Prince of Darkness about working together, not knowing that they’d never have the time.

READ MORE: Guns N’ Roses Have Released ‘The Last of the ‘Chinese Democracy’ Stuff’

“It was an amazing day,” he told Rolling Stone Australia (video below). “There was just such a massive feeling of warmth and cameraderie with all the different musicians.

“There was no attitude, there was no egos – all checked at the door – and it was the nicest get-together of musicians and crew and the fans. I’ve never experienced anything in my career that was as special as that particular event.”

He continued: “Everybody wanted to go back and pay homage to Ozzy. So I went back there, and I got Axl back there to meet Ozzy for the first time, because they’d never met each other.

“Axl, obviously, was always a fan of Ozzy. But what Axl didn’t know was that Ozzy was a huge fan of his! And so it was nice to see them actually meet.”

Slash’s Unrealized Studio Plans with Ozzy

Slash confirmed that he and Osbourne briefly discussed working together again, saying: “Ozzy and I had been buddies for a long time and I’d recorded with him a bunch of times. So we talked on the phone about getting together and he says, ‘Yeah, we should get together soon.’

“I guess it was about a week after the gig. I thought, ‘Okay, at some point we’ll converge in a studio somewhere,’ and that was it. I was off on the road with Guns; we went off and finished what we were doing.

“And then all of a sudden I got that f––g phone call. It was unbelievable.”

Watch Slash’s Interview