The death of Ozzy Osbourne has left an indelible hole in music. As the frontman of Black Sabbath, and later as a solo artist, Ozzy blazed a trail unlike any other rocker. He was bold, talented, fearless, wild and always authentic.
That Osbourne’s death came just few weeks after the star-studded Back to the Beginning concert celebrated his incredible career added further weight to the loss. The world only got one Ozzy Osbourne – there will never be another.
As news of the metal icon’s death spread across the world, fellow musicians paid their respects, some during concerts, others via social media.
At New York’s Madison Square Garden, Ghost frontman Tobias Forge announced they were dedicating the show “to the memory and the life and laughter of Ozzy Osbourne.” Further upstate in Saratoga Springs, New York, Def Leppard performed a rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” “There is an added ingredient into the pie tonight because we all know just a few hours ago we lost our beloved Ozzy Osbourne,” frontman Joe Elliott declared. “That’s right. Let’s celebrate him. Ozzy.”
It wasn’t just metal acts celebrating Ozzy – Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band and Cyndi Lauper all honored the Prince of Darkness during their respective concerts. Even Kermit the Frog honored Osbourne.
“Every time we bumped into Ozzy over the years, he made us feel just as cool as he was,” the beloved Muppet said in a post. “We loved having a friend like Ozzy Osbourne and we feel so lucky to have known him, worked with him and experienced his music for so many decades.”
Below, we round up more than 30 notable Ozzy tributes.
Geezer Butler
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Tony Iommi
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Bill Ward
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Metallica
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Alice Cooper
Motley Crue
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Foo Fighters
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Tom Morello
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Maynard James Keenan (Tool)
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Gojira
Metal stars Gojira were playing in Istanbul when news of Ozzy’s death broke. “I just heard that – and I don’t know if this is confirmed – Ozzy just died,” vocalist and guitarist Joe Duplantier told the crowd. “Ozzy Osbourne just died. So I’m sorry, this is crazy. This one is for Ozzy! It’s called Flying-fucking-Whales!”
Kermit the Frog
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Soundgarden
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Slipknot
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Pearl Jam
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David Draiman
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The Pixies
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Yungblud
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Jack White
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Judas Priest
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Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
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Wolfgang Van Halen
While playing in Hartford, Connecticut, Wolfgang Van Halen stopped down toward the end of their set to address the passing of Ozzy Osbourne. After leading the crowd in “Ozzy” chants, he shared, “That fucking sucks that we are in a world that doesn’t have Ozzy Osbourne anymore. It was right before soundcheck that we found out. And it was like, ‘Well we have to do something, just mentioning it isn’t enough.’ We’ve played through this maybe three times so please bear with us and sing the fuck along with us.”
The band then delivered a heartfelt rendition of Ozzy’s “Mama I’m Coming Home” as the penultimate song of their performance for the night.
Pantera
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Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down)
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Flavor Flav
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Gavin Rossdale (Bush)
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Brian May (Queen)
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Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace)
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Smashing Pumpkins
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Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
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