Yungblud sent a text to Ozzy Osbourne the night before honoring the late rock star at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I just loved your dad and I just was like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to do it and I’m going to channel him.’ I’m going to do his ‘hahas’ and I’m going to do his hands,” the 28-year-old singer told Jack Osbourne on the Tuesday, October 7, episode of the “Trying Not To Die” podcast. “I’m going to do his eyes and I’m going to wear his cross and I’m going to just f***ing do it, because what the f*** else are we going to do?”
The most “beautiful” part about the tribute performance, however, actually took place the night before.
“I couldn’t f***ing sleep. So I text your old man. I text him the night before. It didn’t go through,” Yungblud told Jack, 39. “I literally just was like, ‘Tomorrow I just want [you] to know wherever you are, I love you and I’ll give it everything I got.’”
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Yungblud said the “pressure” of nailing the Ozzy tribute performance is what made him unable to sleep.
Two months after Ozzy’s death at age 76, Yungblud took the stage alongside Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt at the awards show on September 7 and performed a medley of Ozzy’s greatest hits. Jack made a surprise appearance with a prerecorded video message introducing the tribute.
“I wish we could be there as you celebrate my dad’s amazing musical journey,” Jack said at the time. “It would make him incredibly happy to see these great musicians carry on his legacy and help inspire the next generation of rockers.”
Ozzy Osbourne. Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images
Yungblud kicked off the performance with a rendition of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” He then sang “Changes,” which he’s been performing every night on stage since Ozzy’s death this summer. Tyler and Perry joined Yungblud for “Mama, I’m Coming Home” to round out the performance.
The podcast episode also subtly addressed criticisms of the VMAs performance from The Darkness’ Dan and Justin Hawkins, who called Yungblud a poser.
“People forget, and I think rock music has suffered for a while, because people forget that rock is dictated by the people. The people are what makes something rock and roll,” Yungblud said on Tuesday. “As far as I’m concerned, the people f***ing loved [the performance]. We got to put your f***ing dad’s face in front of another 100 million people that night, and keep that legacy alive and keep that idea alive.”
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Ozzy and his wife, Sharon Osbourne, formed a bond with Yungblud after appearing in his 2022 music video for “The Funeral.” (Initially, Yungblud called Kelly Osbourne for the gig, but she passed it along to her parents.)
“As a family, we’ve talked about this. You’ve been so graceful over the last two months,” an emotional Jack told Yungblud, later referring to him by his real name. “You were so much more involved. And we’ve respected that you’ve respected that.”
He added, “Dom meant something to my dad. My dad meant something to Dom.”
2025-10-09 18:21:52
