Wolfgang Van Halen and his band Mammoth paid tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with a cover of his 1991 hit ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’ last night – check out footage below.
The Black Sabbath frontman and legendary soloist died yesterday (Tuesday July 22), aged 76. It came shortly after Osbourne took to the stage for his final-ever live shows at Sabbath’s huge ‘Back To The Beginning’ event in Birmingham on July 5. The gig was live-streamed globally, with a cinema release scheduled for next year.
Announcing Osbourne’s passing, his family wrote: “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.”
“We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Just after the news broke, Mammoth played an impromptu tribute to Osbourne during a show in Hartford, Connecticut, where they were playing alongside Creed and Daughtry.
“That fucking sucks that we are in a world that doesn’t have Ozzy Osbourne anymore,” he said. “And it was right before we went on soundcheck that we found out. And I thought, ‘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.”
Check out footage of their cover below:
Osbourne’s emotional rendition of ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ during the ‘Back To The Beginning’ show earlier this month was considered one of the highlights of the event. Content creator and vocal coach Dimitris Barmpas later shared a version showing the singer’s isolated vocals, which has been widely shared in tribute to the musician.
Van Halen was supposed to be part of the extravaganza, marking Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final performance, but he had to pull out due to his touring commitments with Creed.
The likes of Coldplay, Alice Cooper, Ghost and Gojira have dedicated performances to Osbourne, as fans shared footage and memories from the artist’s final live appearances.
Tributes have since poured in from across the music world, including posts from Osbourne’s former bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler. “So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston,” the latter wrote, adding: “Love you.”
Other major artists to have paid their respects include Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Jack White and many more.
Elsewhere, social media users have been flooding platforms with humorous clips of the Prince Of Darkness in the beloved ’00s reality series The Osbournes. Meanwhile, gamers have been remembering his iconic advert for PlayStation’s virtual reality headset, the PSVR2.
A bizarre tribute to Osbourne saw The Alamo Cenotaph recall the time he urinated on the monument in the early ’80s while wearing Sharon’s dress.
