King Charles’ army band have paid their respects to Ozzy Osbourne by covering Black Sabbath’s classic track ‘Paranoid’. Check it out below.
The heavy metal pioneer frontman died last week (July 22) at age 76. In a statement, his family shared that he was “surrounded by love” at the time of his passing.
His death came just weeks after he played a final live show in his hometown, and raised “a ton” of money for charity along the way.
Thousands have taken to the streets of Birmingham to leave flowers and emotional tributes to the music icon in the days since, and thousands more lined the streets yesterday (July 31) for the funeral procession. Ozzy was laid to rest at a private ceremony in Buckinghamshire, which was attended by Elton John, members of Metallica and more.
Now, King Charles’ army band have also paid their respects to the music icon, putting their own spin on the classic Black Sabbath song ‘Paranoid’.
In a video captured during a recent Changing of the Guard ceremony, the musicians in their red uniforms formed an arc outside of Buckingham Palace. The brass and woodwind instrumentalists played the melody of the classic track and a conductor kept time.
@about.london The Band of the Coldstream Guards perform “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath at Changing of the Guard today. RIP to Ozzy Osbourne the “Prince of Darkness” #guard #kingsguard #ozzyosbourne #blacksabbath #paranoid #heavymetal #rockband #london #buckinghampalace #fyp
♬ original sound – about.london
The song remains one of the most successful tracks from the Birmingham metal legends.
This isn’t the first time that the army band have made a nod to a famous artist. Earlier this year, they also performed a cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ to celebrate Pride.
Before then, King Charles III teamed up with Apple Music to launch his radio show ‘The King’s Music Room’. This saw him share his love of music, and reveal which artists have left a lasting impression on him throughout the years.
As well as the army band, tributes have also come from the likes of Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, Gojira and Jake E Lee.
There has also been a push from fans for both Birmingham Airport and a stage at Download Festival to be renamed after the late singer. A Change.org petition for the former got over 5,000 signees in less than two days, and currently stands at over 57,000 signatures.
The Prince of Darkness spoke about what he wanted for his final send-off in a Dear Ozzy column for The Times in 2011. “I honestly don’t care what they play at my funeral; they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and We Are The Diddy Men if it makes ’em happy… But I do want to make sure it’s a celebration, not a mope-fest,” he wrote at the time.
