“To sing this song for you at an event surrounded by legends inspired by you to a crowd that loved you was truly my life’s greatest honour”
Yungblud has paid homage to late Black Sabbath icon Ozzy Osbourne – see what he had to say about the metal innovator below.
The death of the heavy metal pioneer and iconic Black Sabbath frontman was announced on Tuesday (July 22). His family said in a statement that the 76-year-old music icon was “surrounded by love” at the time of his passing.
It came shortly after he took to the stage for the huge ‘Back To The Beginning’ gig in Birmingham on July 5 – marking his final show both as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath. While a cause of death has not been revealed, Ozzy had notably been dealing with a myriad of health issues for numerous years, including being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2019.
Following the news of Ozzy’s devastating passing, Yungblud – who has famously looked up to Osbourne and was outspoken about his admiration for the metal legend – took to social media to pay homage.
“I’m trying to compute the last couple days and honestly I’m fucking shattered,” Yungblud began. “You have been my North Star for everything for as long as I can remember from when I was misunderstood as a child to the way people thought I was just a little ‘too much’ or ‘strange’ in my life and career.”
“I owe so much to you, your wife and your family – you all gave me a road to run down and supported me when people would turn their nose up,” he continued. “You loved life so much and you adored music. It was your smile man. You taught me it was beautiful to be out of the box. I promise you with all my heart I will try my best and make it my life’s journey to keep the spirit that you started and what you have taught me alive. I will give it my best shot.”
Referencing his Ozzy-approved cover of ‘Changes’ that he performed at the ‘Back To The Beginning’ show earlier this month, Yungblud added: “To sing this song for you at an event surrounded by legends inspired by you to a crowd who loved you was truly my life’s greatest honour and I vow to play this song every night for the rest of my life.”
He concluded his touching tribute with a shoutout to Ozzy’s late guitarist Randy Rhoads: “You’re my hero in every regard. I hope you’re up there avin a drink with Randy. For the Prince of Darkness you sure brought all the light to the world. I love you Ozzy.”
At the ‘Back To The Beginning’ show, Yungblud led a group that also included Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme on guitar, II from Sleep Token on drums and Adam Wakeman of Ozzy Osbourne’s band – and son of rock legend Rick – on keys. Yungblud dedicated the cover to the late Liverpool star Diogo Jota, who tragically lost his life in a car accident in northern Spain on July 3.
After the tribute show, Yungblud officially released the ‘Changes’ cover, which received the seal of approval from the Black Sabbath frontman himself, who said: “He did an amazing job. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
Check out Yungblud’s powerful cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Changes’ below.
Elsewhere at the mammoth ‘Back To The Beginning’ gig – which boasted a star-studded line-up, including Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, Alice In Chains and more – Yungblud gifted Ozzy Osbourne with a custom-made gold cross.
Ozzy and Yungblud had previously teamed up for the 2022 ‘The Funeral’ music video. During the filming of that video, the Black Sabbath legend gave Yungblud the gold cross that he was wearing as a token of good luck.
“I’ve made you something. You gave me your cross, and I wanted to return the favour, so I made you something,” he told Osbourne at ‘Back To The Beginning’. “I’ve got mine on. I never took mine off, so I wanted to return the favour.”“
Thank you for everything. It’s a fucking honour,” he added, while the ‘Paranoid’ singer looked visibly moved by the gesture, and saying that Yungblud could always reach out to him for anything he needs. “The fucking music was enough,” Yungblud responded. “Thank you so much, honestly. You gave me an outlet. Everyone thought I was too fucking mad and that I was like ‘No, I’m like Ozzy’.”
Back in 2022, Yungblud spoke to NME about what it was like to work with Ozzy Osbourne for the ‘Funeral’ music video, and shared how he feels a huge amount of respect for the Black Sabbath singer. “He’s so intelligent and so fucking beautiful. People are scared of him until they hear him speak,” he said. “He said that he saw a lot of himself in me. He said, ‘Never apologise for anything. They will understand you later. Time always tells.’”
Countless fans and figures from the music world have shared tributes to the ‘Crazy Train’ singer – including Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, Gojira and his former guitarist Jake E Lee.
Touching messages have also been shared by his Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.
