Veteran rocker Ozzy Osbourne had some salient advice for Canberra's heavy metal kid Callum McPhie when they met recently before a Black Sabbath concert in Sydney.
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"He told me not to drink alcohol and not to do drugs," 11-year-old Callum said.
The year seven student and his family were still on a - natural - high this week after meeting Ozzy and Black Sabbath guitarists, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, ahead of an historic Black Sabbath concert in Sydney.
They also attended a sound check before the concert and sat in premium seats for the show at Sydney Olympic Park on April 23. The concert was part of Black Sabbath's farewell The End tour, the band unlikely to play Down Under again.
The VIP treatment was organised by Ozzy's daughter Kelly Osbourne, a judge on Australia's Got Talent, where Callum found fame - and earned a grand final berth - for his out-of-this-world heavy metal guitar performances. Among his showstoppers was a rendition of the Ozzy classic Crazy Train.
Kelly had hinted a few times that a meeting between her father and Callum would be on the cards.
And when it did happen, Ozzy gave Callum a tender hug and confirmed he was well aware of his talent.
"He said he knew who I was and his daughter Kelly had told him all about me," Callum said.
"I felt absolutely, not shocked, just super-happy that Kelly had come through and let me meet Ozzy."
Callum attended the concert with his father Doug McPhie and mother Melissa Freeman who were just as excited as their son.
"To have that kind of experience would otherwise be well beyond our means and well beyond our dreams," Doug said, with some fans paying thousands of dollars for a meet-and-greet with the band.
They were well looked after by tour manager Steve Varga, who is married to Australian Melinda Varga, once the Osbourne family's nanny and who sometimes appeared in their reality-TV show The Osbournes.
"He [Steve] gave Callum some guitar picks and kept calling Callum over to have photographs with everyone. It was incredible," Doug said.
"He was very much given the rock-star treatment."
There were only about 30 people at the pre-show sound check when the bank played Iron Man.
The show, itself, was also "amazing".
"They are all in their late 60s now but it was an incredible rock concert. They still know how to fill a stadium, and absolutely rock it," Doug said.
"Ozzy was just so on the ball, interacting with the audience and singing up a storm."
The family said it was a nice end to an amazing adventure.
"The one thing everyone asks is,,' 'Has Callum met Ozzy yet?' and now we can say he has," Doug said.
As for Callum's future watch this space.
"There's some noises from the US but we can't say too much yet," Doug said.
In the meantime, as he returned to school this week, Callum had quite the tale about what he did in the school holidays.
