Watch the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s all-star tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame – for the second time – this past weekend, where he was honoured with a tribute performance by Billy Idol, Jelly Roll and more.
The Prince of Darkness was previously inducted as a member of Black Sabbath in 2006, and on Saturday (October 19) was inducted as a solo artist – a long time coming as he’s been eligible for the honour since 2006.
During the ceremony at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, a tribute to the singer’s solo career was performed by Billy Idol, Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan, and country artist Jelly Roll, alongside a backing band comprised of bassist Rob Trujillo – who was in Osbourne’s band prior to joining Metallica – Zakk Wylde, Wolfgang Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith, guitarist Steve Stevens and producer Andrew Watt.
For the performance, Maynard James Keenan kicked things off with ‘Crazy Train’, which was introduced by Ozzy himself, who sang the song’s iconic ‘All aboard!’ lyrics.
After that, Jelly Roll covered Osbourne’s power ballad ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ and Billy Idol closed out the performance with ‘No More Tears’.
Watch fan-shot footage of the entire tribute performance below.
During Osbourne’s induction speech, he gave his fans and supports a quick round of thank-yous so as not to “bore you with a long, drawn-out fucking monologue”. He then gave a special shout-out to his late guitarist Randy Rhoads, and his wife Sharon: “I’ve got to say one thing for a guy by the name of Randy Rhoads. If I’d hadn’t have met Randy Rhoads, I don’t think I’d be sitting here now. And more so more than that, my wife Sharon. Saved my life. And my grandbabies and my babies. I love them all.”
In other news, Osbourne continues to be linked with rumours of a final one-off reunion with Black Sabbath, with all four members including drummer Bill Ward appearing to be provisionally on board. The singer previously shared that he would “jump at the chance” to play a final Black Sabbath show with Ward.
At the beginning of the year, Sharon Osbourne – Ozzy’s wife and manager – revealed that they are planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he fully retires from performing live. She reportedly hinted that the Prince Of Darkness, 75, would stage the pair of farewell concerts at the Villa Park football stadium in his home city of Birmingham.
Osbourne previously announced his retirement from touring last February, calling off his scheduled European and UK tour dates in the process. Later that month, however, he said he hoped to return to the stage at some point in the future.
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Surej Singh
NME
