The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will be held this weekend, and the big show will feature a tribute to late heavy metal godfather Ozzy Osbourne, as performed by Yungblud.
Over on Instagram, Yungblud shared the news alongside a photo of himself and Ozzy, writing in part: “I’ll try my best to do you proud Oz. Tune in from up there. I love you forever.” According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt will also be part of the big musical tribute.
Ozzy Osbourne passed away on Tuesday, July 22. He was 76. In a statement, the Osbourne family said, “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
The legendary metal singer’s last live performance was earlier this summer at the Back to the Beginning festival, a concert event celebrating his career both solo and with Black Sabbath.
Ozzy had been living with Parkinson’s and faced multiple health issues over the last several years. His cause of death was ultimately ruled as being due to acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction are listed as associated factors.
In a subsequent conversation with NME, Yungblud made his first comments in the press on Ozzy’s death, following a heartfelt tribute he previously penned. “I haven’t really spoken about Ozzy, so it’s weird, you know. I mean, I think like that’s the first time I’ve kind of been asked about him,” he said.
“I think Ozzy was always my north star. It was really Ozzy Osbourne and David Bowie [that] meant everything to me,” Yungblud continued. “I think Ozzy was a character in my life that was such a reflection of everything I went through. I was always a bit over the top, I was always seen to be a bit crazy, I was always seen to be a bit loud, but when kind of some people saw that as a negative, Ozzy would provide me this hope that there was an avenue for someone like me in the world.”
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