Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July 2025, long viewed the breakup of Guns N' Roses as one of rock's great missed opportunities, believing the band could have rivalled genre giants like The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith had they stayed together. His remarks, resurfaced in this retrospective piece, reflect a broader theme in his life: watching contemporaries and successors succumb to excess or infighting rather than fulfilling their musical promise, from friends lost to addiction to bands undone by internal conflict.

Osbourne praised Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction as "one of the greatest debut albums of all time," singling out its consistency and enduring appeal, and squarely blamed Axl Rose's controlling behaviour for the band's unravelling following the Use Your Illusion tour. He reportedly channelled some of his frustration into Slash's solo track "Crucify the Dead," and had also reflected elsewhere on losing collaborators such as guitarist Randy Rhoads and drinking companions including John Bonham. The article frames the Guns N' Roses split as, in Osbourne's eyes, a self-inflicted tragedy rather than an inevitable casualty of rock and roll's volatility.