The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards paused the spectacle for a full-throttle salute to Ozzy Osbourne, rolling out an emotional, eight-minute medley that pulled three generations of rock under one roof. YUNGBLUD took point on vocals, flanked by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry with Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt on guitar. The set ripped from the juggernaut riff of “Crazy Train” to the tenderness of “Changes,” before landing on the crowd-raising chorus of “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
Aired live from New York City across MTV, CBS, and Paramount+, the performance was built as a centerpiece of the night, not just a look back. YUNGBLUD leaned into the moment, wearing Ozzy’s cross around his neck. He held it up and spoke straight to the point: “Ozzy was my northstar my whole life. Ozzy said to me, ‘Do not care about what people think. They’ll get it later.’ And I loved it, man.”
The tribute hit harder because of the performers’ recent ties to Ozzy’s final stretch of shows. YUNGBLUD said he caught one of Ozzy’s last gigs in Birmingham. Bettencourt, who has spent time in Ozzy’s orbit, nodded to those goodbye moments too: “I had the honor of doing it in Birmingham when Ozzy was still with us, and I played like 10 or 12 songs,” he recalled, adding that he performed at what was described as a farewell show in July.
Musically, the medley moved like a short film. “Crazy Train” did what it always does—announce itself in seconds—giving Joe Perry and Nuno Bettencourt room to trade searing lines. “Changes” flipped the energy: the melody sat front and center, with Tyler and YUNGBLUD sharing verses and stretching the ballad’s ache without over-singing it. “Mama, I’m Coming Home” closed the circle, turning the arena into a singalong and letting the guitars bloom into that last, soaring refrain.
Those song choices weren’t random. “Crazy Train” remains Ozzy’s gateway anthem, the riff that pulled countless kids into heavy music. “Changes,” first cut in the Black Sabbath era and later revived in Ozzy’s solo life, showed the vulnerability that made him more than a shock-rock figure. “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” co-written with Zakk Wylde and Lemmy Kilmister in the early ’90s, stands as one of his most enduring solo ballads—a letter of gratitude wrapped in a hook.
Part of what made the moment land was the lineup itself. Tyler and Perry brought classic-rock gravity. YUNGBLUD carried the present tense—an artist who grew up on Ozzy and now helps pass that spark forward. Bettencourt’s precision and flair stitched it together, balancing hard-edge crunch with melody. It looked and felt like a handoff, not a museum piece.
Inside the arena, the crowd rose early and stayed standing. Fans filmed every beat and flooded social feeds within minutes, clipping the “Crazy Train” intro and the last chorus of “Mama” like instant souvenirs. You didn’t need to be a metal lifer to catch the point: this was about influence, mentorship, and staying power.
Ozzy changed the shape of heavy music twice—first as the face of Black Sabbath’s thunder, then as a solo artist who turned metal into mainstream radio without sanding it down. He stacked decades of hits, built a stage persona that was both theatrical and strangely human, and became the rare rocker who mattered in more than one era. That’s why his name carries weight at a pop-heavy show like the VMAs.
MTV helped turn rock stars into household names, and Ozzy’s videos were part of that early cable-era churn. The hooks and imagery traveled fast. Even as trends shifted, his catalog kept renewing itself, from arena staples to late-career collaborations that introduced him to a new generation.
The timing added another layer. Performers on stage referenced Ozzy’s final shows—Birmingham and a farewell outing in July—moments that felt like bookends to a long run. He has been open about health challenges in recent years, which made this tribute feel less like nostalgia and more like a thank-you note in front of the whole industry.
The cast fit the story. YUNGBLUD has built a career by smashing genres and refusing to flinch, a trait Ozzy always encouraged in younger artists. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry came in as living testaments to the arena-rock era that followed Sabbath’s blueprint. Bettencourt, a virtuoso best known with Extreme and a frequent foil for pop and rock heavyweights, brought the technical finesse that Ozzy’s material invites.
There’s a bigger angle here too: rock rarely gets lengthy, centerpiece airtime on awards shows built around hip-hop and pop. Giving an eight-minute window to a metal icon—and making it feel urgent—was a choice. It put riffs and melody back at the heart of a mainstream broadcast for one night, and it earned the room it took.
Tributes often trigger a rush back to the original records. Expect fans to revisit the albums and live cuts, and expect a new wave of young players to pick up guitars because of that “Crazy Train” jolt. That’s how Ozzy’s influence has always worked—one person hears it, then a band forms, and the cycle keeps going.
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