Swedish progressive metal icons OPETH honored the late Ozzy Osbourne with a special performance at the Beyond The Gates festival on August 1 in Bergen, Norway. As part of their set, the band delivered a poignant cover of BLACK SABBATH’s “Solitude.”
Originally featured on BLACK SABBATH’s 1971 classic Master Of Reality, “Solitude” showcases the softer, more melancholic side of the band’s early work. OPETH’s rendition, captured in fan-filmed footage now circulating online, remains faithful to the original’s emotional weight while layering it with the band’s signature atmospheric depth.
This isn’t the first time OPETH has revisited the track. A live version, recorded at Stockholm’s Södra Teatern in 2012, was released as a bonus track on their 2014 album Pale Communion. According to frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt, “Solitude” has been part of OPETH’s live repertoire since the early 1990s, though it remains the only BLACK SABBATH song the band has ever officially covered.
Just two days after Osbourne’s death, Åkerfeldt shared a heartfelt message on the band’s social media reflecting on the influence Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH had on his life and career.
“So that dreadful day finally came. John Michael Osbourne has left us, and it’s so incredibly hard to accept it,” Mikael wrote in a statement. “Even if I have braced myself for this inevitable fact since the 80’s it just feels completely unreal. He was like an ancient oak tree to me. A listed tree that people would visit and marvel at.
“Ozzy came into my life in the late 70’s/early 80’s (I can’t remember exactly, I admit) when I heard ‘Iron Man’ on a cassette player in Sörskogen/Huddinge/Stockholm. I was just a child, and ‘that’ voice in the beginning scared the living daylights out of me. BLACK SABBATH was my introduction to heavy rock/metal and has remained a lifelong companion since. I’ve read some posts from other musicians and can only concur. If it wasn’t for Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH my interest in music (as a whole) wouldn’t have taken off as it did. I became obsessed with them, and I suppose I still am.
“I’ve never talked to Ozzy myself. The closest engagement I had with him was when he shuffled past me at an award show and kinda bumped into me. I remember thinking ‘this might become my only Ozzy story’. He felt that illuminated and untouchable just walking past. I kept looking for him around the room but I never got the chance to speak to him again. We have played with BLACK SABBATH and Ozzy on a few occasions but I’ve been too shy and starstruck to search him up. Besides his entourage and private quarters made sure that no-one would be able to come close.
“There’s so much to be said about his musical wealth which he showered on the world of music, but I’d only repeat what countless others have already said. All I know is that the world is a lesser place without him around. The beacon that was Ozzy Osbourne has gone dark and silent. Luckily, his music remains for our eternal enjoyment, and for that I am so grateful.
“Now, all that remains is to actually understand and accept that this is real. It happened! It’ll be an emotional marathon of sorts in order to get there, but what else can we do than try?
“Our warmest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.