The Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy talked about the passing of the Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne at the age of 76, saying that the impact is as big as John Lennon's death. The musician told Eddie Trunk that he hadn't felt a loss like this one since The Beatles member was murdered in 1980. According to him when artists like Dio, Lemmy and Eddie Van Halen died the impact was "massive" but Ozzy's death is another level of "mainstream", because it's more than Heavy Metal and music, he is a Pop culture figure. Mike Portnoy says the impact of Ozzy Osbourne's death is as big as John Lennon's passing "The impact has been huge. I don't know if I've felt a loss like this… This is as big as John Lennon or whatever. Obviously, in our world, in the metal world, you have losses like [Ronnie James] Dio or Lemmy or Eddie Van Halen, and those are massive. But this has been a whole other level of mainstream. Because he transcends metal, he transcends rock even, he transcends music. He's a pop culture figure. So this has been a huge one." "After he passed, I've been going back through the solo catalog. And it's been a great, great musical trip to be revisiting all this stuff. It's amazing. What a career. But, yeah, what a loss. What a blessing that (The final show) happened, that he got to say goodbye to the fans, do a final show surrounded by every band that loves him and grew up with him and he influenced. What a blessing to have done that. Now, I don't wanna be like a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if some of that contributed. 'Cause it had to have been so stressful, it had to have been so exhausting. It probably took a lot out of him to go through rehearsals and everything like that." "So I can only imagine. But thank God he got to do that show and to have that goodbye. He threw the greatest farewell concert of all time. Incredible… It was a gift for him and a gift for the fans and his loved ones. What a way to say goodbye, really. I mean, you've seen these tribute concerts, like the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert, which was amazing, and the Freddie Mercury tribute concert. But this was a rare case where you had a tribute concert when he actually got to be there and attend it and be part of it. So, really, it was the ultimate farewell. Incredible," Mike Portnoy said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth). https://youtu.be/HD3jeUq7sm0 Ozzy's funeral service was held on July 31, right after Ozzy’s procession, which was livestreamed to the entire world. During the procession, the family stopped at the Black Sabbath Bridge in Birmingham to thank fans for their support and to give them a chance to say one final goodbye to the Sabbath frontman. The hearse also passed by his childhood home, where fans had left many messages and flowers. According to The Sun, about 110 people attended Ozzy’s private funeral and among those were Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, James Hetfield, Elton John, Zakk Wylde, Rob Zombie, Marylin Manson, Yungblud.The post Mike Portnoy says the impact of Ozzy’s death is as big as John Lennon’s passing appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.