“Ozzy Forever!”: Osbourne Honored at MTV VMAs With Tribute From Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Yungblud and Nuno Bettencourt
The 2025 Video Music Awards paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne on Sunday night, a little over a month after the heavy metal pioneer died at age 76.
Osbourne — nicknamed the Prince of Darkness — died July 22, just 17 days after playing his final show with Black Sabbath.
Osbourne’s son, Jack, introduced the tribute along with his four daughters via a pretaped video, noting he was proud that the show was celebrating “my dad’s amazing musical journey.”
“I know for sure it would make me incredibly happy to see these great musicians carry on his legacy and help inspire the next generation of rockers,” he said, giving a “special shout-out” to the four performers who took part in the tribute: Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry, singer Yungblud and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
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Jack and his kids then ended the segment by saying, “In the words of our Papa, ‘Let’s go crazy!’ ” That was followed by a video montage of Osbourne’s life and career.
Then Yungblud, Tyler, Perry and Bettencourt hit the stage to perform the tribute to Osbourne with a medley of his greatest hits.
Yungblud kicked off the tribute with Osbourne’s 1980 solo hit “Crazy Train” (a cover of which also served as the theme song to the Osbournes’ early-2000s MTV reality series The Osbournes, as sung by their neighbor Pat Boone). He then slowed it down with a cover of Black Sabbath’s 1972 song “Changes.”
Tyler then took the stage to sing Osbourne’s 1991 hit “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” accompanied by Perry on guitar. Yungblud returned to the mic to duet with Tyler on the tune, which built to a crescendo and ended with pyrotechnics and Yungblud shouting into the microphone, “Ozzy forever!”
The 2025 VMAs aired live coast-to-coast Sunday from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, with LL Cool J hosting. The show aired on CBS for the first time in addition to their longtime home on MTV and stream live on Paramount+ (for subscribers to the service’s premium plan). (See a list of the wildest VMA moments of all time.)
Former MTV head Van Toffler and his company Gunpowder & Sky produced the 2025 VMAs along with Den of Thieves.
See a list of the 2025 VMA winners and see the stars’ red carpet arrivals.
