On July 5th 2025, people were able to tune into a masterful performance to honor a living legend of heavy metal. The Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne went off greater than I had ever expected.
I was not fortunate to attend it live, but I was invited by two great friends to attend a “viewing party”. All the stops were pulled, a buffet that included a taco bar, “Black Sabbath Black Bean Dip, and WAR PIGS in a blanket”, big screen TV, loud speakers, wild friends, a “Frozen” ice cream cake, and a fridge full of beer.
Fans in attendance endured what appeared to be a long, but amazing day of standing around waiting for the next epic performance. I would liken it to waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. The live stream however was delayed 2 hours, and the production of it was top notch. There were fan submitted videos, interviews with musicians, and a smooth transition amongst the scantily placed ads.
The music throughout the day was far beyond what I could have ever imagined. The love for Ozzy poured out like water through a broken pipe with no shut off valve in sight. The lineup included bands like Mastodon, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N Roses, Metallica, and then penultimately a set with Ozzy focusing on his solo work, and finally the originators of heavy metal Black Sabbath.
Spread out between this epic lineup were two “Supergroups” that could ALMOST hold a flame to the “Jason Bittner All Star Jam” (Seen exclusively at the Extreme Music Awards January 17th 2026).
The first set included heavy metal legends like Nuno Bettencourt, Jake E Lee, David Ellefson and Scott Ian amongst others. Lzzy Hale came on for a killer rendition of “The Ultimate Sin”. David Draiman came out and fronted “Shot in the Dark and Sweet Leaf”
The second group was backed with Tom Morello, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo and Danny Carey and Chad Smith. Sammy Hagar came out to sing “Flying High Again and Rock Candy”. My favorite part of the show (Pre Ozzy) was the “Demon of Screamin” Steven Tyler coming out to perform “Train Kept a-Rollin, Walk This Way, and Whole Lotta Love”. I am not lying when I tell you that I geeked out for this part of the show. He sounded EVERY BIT OF GREAT as he always does.
All of the bands that played performed some of their own songs, and then paid tribute to Ozzy, either in the form of his solo work or his Sabbath material.
The early highlights of the show, Anthrax’s cover of “Into the Void”, Lamb of God’s cover of “Children of the Grave” and Pantera’s version of “Electric Funeral”. Every band showed their hearts on their sleeve with love towards Ozzy, a man who influenced everyone in this genre.
When it came time for Ozzy, the mass consensus had our doubts. The health and history of Ozzy has been well chronicled and it hasn’t been favorable. Ozzy sat in a throne, surrounded by his band mates Zakk Wylde, Mike Inez, Adam Wakeman and Tommy Clufetos. To say Ozzy sounded great would be an understatement. He remained seated through his performance, but it did not lessen his emotion. There were times I was expecting Ozzy to pull a Gene Wilder impression of Willy Wonka, and roll out of the chair and pop up for a two hour set. Ozzy tore through renditions of I Don’t Know, Mr. Crowley, Suicide Solution, Mama, I’m Coming Home (I wasn’t crying, there was a lot of pollen… YOU WERE CRYING!!!!) and brought it home with Crazy Train.
After a brief intermission, the stage was reset and Ozzy came out surrounded by the legendary Black Sabbath. Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Tony Iommi. Again, Ozzy remained seated and emphatically performed War Pigs, N.I.B, Iron Man, and closed with Paranoid
Do yourself a favor and check out the performances from this show. It is sad that Ozzy is done, but I am so grateful for all he has done for heavy metal during his career.
