NEED TO KNOW
- Coldplay frontman Chris Martin performed a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” and dedicated it to Ozzy Osbourne at a concert in Nashville
- “Ozzy, we love you, wherever you’re going,” Martin said on July 22
- Osbourne’s family confirmed his death earlier that same day
Coldplay dedicated a cover of Black Sabbath’s soft-rock 1972 ballad “Changes” to the late Ozzy Osbourne at their concert at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Tuesday, July 22.
Osbourne’s family confirmed his death on Tuesday morning. He was 76.
Before the show, a fan posted a clip on X from outside Nissan Stadium, where the band could be heard performing “Changes” during soundcheck.
“We’d like to dedicate this whole show to the incredible genius, talent, and character called gift to the world who was Ozzy Osbourne. We send our love to his family,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said in a fan-captured video from the concert shared on TikTok.
After playing the meditative heartbreak ballad, Martin, 48, said, “Ozzy, we love you, wherever you’re going.”
In his 2011 autobiography I Am Ozzy, co-written by Chris Ayres, the Black Sabbath frontman revealed that the lyrics were inspired by the end of guitarist Bill Ward’s first marriage. Osbourne co-wrote the lyrics with Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler.
In 2003, Osbourne re-recorded the song as a duet with his daughter Kelly Osbourne. Earlier this month, Yungblud performed a cover of the song live at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning benefit concert held at Villa Park in the band’s home city of Birmingham, U.K. Proceeds from the concert on July 5 went to Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorns Children’s Hospice.
Yungblud shared a tribute to Osbourne in the wake of his death.
“I didn’t think you would leave so soon the last time we met you were so full of life and your laugh filled up the room. But as it is written with legends, they seem to know the things that we don’t,” Yunglud, 27, began his tribute on Instagram.
“I will never forget you – you will be in every single note I sing and with me every single time I walk on stage,” Yungblud wrote. “Your cross around my neck is the most precious thing I own. You asked me once if there was anything you could do for me and as I said then and as I will say now for all of us the music was enough. You took us on your adventure – an adventure that started it all.”
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“I am truly heartbroken. You were the greatest of all time,” concluded the rock star.
Osbourne’s family told PEOPLE in a statement on July 22, “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.”
Osbourne is survived by his wife Sharon and six children.
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