MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs) paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne during the ceremony last Sunday (September 7) with a medley of ‘Crazy Train,’ ‘Changes,’ and ‘Mama I’m Coming Home,’ performed by Extreme, Yungblud, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry.
Tyler, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt and Yungblud were also part of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s final show/festival, Back to the Beginning, held at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, just a few weeks before his passing.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry paid tribute to Ozzy at the VMAs
Ozzy Osbourne passed away at the age of 76 last July 22, earlier that month he had played his final solo show and the last one with Black Sabbath at the Villa Park in Birmingham, the band’s hometown. During that festival, many bands like Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses and supergroups formed by former members of Ozzy’s solo years, paid tribute to him and Sabbath playing some of their famous tracks.
The “festival” also had many Ozzy solo career collaborators who were also part of the tribute, like the guitarist Jake E. Lee, the drummer Mike Bordin and the bassist Rudy Sarzo. Mötley Crüe and his members were not part of the line-up.
Ozzy Osbourne helped form Black Sabbath in 1968 alongside guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. This line-up remained together until 1979, when they decided to fire Osbourne due to his drug and alcohol problems.
They reunited several times over the decades, culminating in their most enduring reunion in the 2010s, without Bill Ward, who disagreed with the contract terms at the time. Their final show marked the first time in two decades that all members played together.