Ozzy Osbourne was honored with a musical tribute by King Charles‘s soldiers following the legendary heavy metal singer’s death.
On July 30, the Band Of The Coldstream Guards, which is comprised of musicians from The Royal Corps Of Army Music and is one of 14 regular army bands in the British army, performed the BLACK SABBATH song “Paranoid” during the Changing Of The Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Changing The Guard is a formal ceremony in which the soldiers who protect Buckingham Palace are replaced by a new group of guards. The event has been part of British history for centuries, with the first ceremony dating back to the reign of King Henry VII.
The guards, who wore their distinctive red tunics and bearskin hats, widely recognized as symbols of British ceremonial heritage, played the SABBATH classic for about three minutes for the crowd. You can see video footage of the performance at this location.
The Band Of The Coldstream Guards‘ performance of “Paranoid” took place on the day of his funeral procession in Birmingham, United Kingdom, where thousands of fans paid their respects to the BLACK SABBATH legend as his funeral cortège traveled through his original hometown.
Ozzy has had several brushes with the British royals, including in 2002 when he performed for the late Queen Elizabeth II. On that occasion, he sang “Paranoid” in front of the monarch, then-Prince Charles and princes William and Harry during a concert titled “Party At The Palace” celebrating the Queen‘s Golden Jubilee.
King Charles, who was Prince Charles at the time, sent Ozzy a bottle of whiskey after his quad-biking accident in 2003.
“He’s a very, very nice man. He’s always treated me with the utmost respect,” Osbourne told The New York Post ahead of the King‘s coronation in 2022. “In fact, when I had my bike accident [in 2003], he sent me a bottle of scotch… I wish him all the best.”
Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.
“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,” the family said.
No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.
Ozzy‘s death came a little more than two weeks after he took the stage for his final performance with BLACK SABBATH at Villa Park in the band’s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom. They performed four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.
Formed in Birmingham in 1968, BLACK SABBATH is widely recognized as one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time, with a career spanning decades and over 75 million albums sold worldwide. Their impact on the genre remains as significant today as it was in the early 1970s, with their music shaping generations of metal musicians.
Ozzy‘s family reality television show “The Osbournes” won a 2002 Primetime Emmy.
In 2006, Osbourne and the other members of the original BLACK SABBATH were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Ozzy was also inducted into the Rock Hall as a solo artist in 2024.
Osbourne won several Grammys, including one in 1993 for his solo song “I Don’t Want To Change The World”.
Ozzy and his wife and manager Sharon started their annual tour — Ozzfest — in 1996 after he was rejected from the lineup of what at the time was the top touring music festival, Lollapalooza. The first traveling version of Ozzfest in 1997 included MARILYN MANSON and PANTERA as part of the lineup.
Osbourne leaves behind his wife, three children from his first marriage (including an adopted son from his first wife’s previous relationship),and three with Sharon: Jack, Kelly and Aimee.
Photo credit: Ross Halfin (courtesy of Premier)
