Ozzy Osbourne pays tribute to late Motörhead guitarist Lemmy at Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards

The 69-year-old Black Sabbath star revealed at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards he had tried to see the late Staffordshire icon on the day he died in December 2015.

Speaking exclusively to music magazine Metal Hammer, Ozzy said he missed having Lemmy around, and that he 'was a good guy'.

“I phoned him on the day he died. I knew he was dying," the singer/songwriter explained.

"He didn't even know it was me. I had to say to him ‘It's Ozzy, Lem.’ He just gurgled down the phone to me.

"I said ‘Lemmy, for f*** sake, stay there, I'm coming.'

“I said to Sharon ‘f*** it, get in the car, we're going around to his apartment.'

"And just as we were leaving she came up to me and said ‘don't worry, he's gone.’ I went 'oh god…’ And I just sunk.

"It hit me really hard, I'm not going to pretend it didn't.”

Ozzy also recalled details of Lemmy's memorial service to the publication, which was attended by the likes of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Nirvana and Foo Fighters rocker Dave Grohl, and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash.

“His memorial was something else as well,” Ozzy added.

“I thought to myself, ‘Jesus, if he was looking down at this shower'.

"There was a tray of drinks as you went into the church. I thought 'this is Lemmy all right.'

“All of the original members of that band are gone now, Eddie (Clarke) went earlier in the year and Phil (Taylor) went a few years back as well.

“They opened for me on my first American tour; that's a memory I'll take to my grave you know.

"Good times, they were all good guys. I miss them all to be honest.

“You have to look at it and wonder how you've managed to stay here this long. We've lost some good ones, you know."

Ozzy Osbourne recently headlined the main stage at the Sunday of Download Festival.

The music idol revealed to Metal Hammer that his memories of Lemmy have made it difficult to sing some of his classic songs.

“I’ve got to the point where I struggle to hit the notes on that ‘the line in the window is a crack in the sky' line in No More Tears," he said.

"My vocal coach told me, ‘let the mic do the work.’

"I don't wanna blow my voice out. I'm not a singer like Lemmy.

"Lemmy was a hell of a singer man, he was something else."