Wolfgang Van Halen’s band MAMMOTH (formerly MAMMOTH WVH) paid a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne during their concert on Tuesday night (July 22) at the XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut. The son of rock legend Eddie Van Halen honored the Prince of Darkness by performing Ozzy’s classic 1991 ballad “Mama, I’m Coming Home” just hours after news broke of the heavy metal icon’s death at age 76.
Before starting the song, Wolfgang addressed the crowd with raw emotion: “That f**king sucks that we are in a world that doesn’t have Ozzy Osbourne anymore. And it was right before we went on soundcheck that we found out. And I thought, ‘Well, we have to do something. Just mentioning it isn’t enough.’ We’ve played through this maybe three times, so please bear with us and sing the f**k along with us.”
Wolfgang had originally been scheduled to take part in BLACK SABBATH’s “Back To The Beginning” farewell concert on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, but had to withdraw due to preparations for MAMMOTH’s current tour with CREED and DAUGHTRY. The event turned out to be Ozzy Osbourne’s final live performance, reuniting him with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward for one last historic set.
Osbourne’s death was confirmed by his family, who revealed that the singer died surrounded by loved ones. While no official cause of death has been given, Ozzy had endured Parkinson’s disease and complications from a serious 2019 fall, which forced him to retire from touring.
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.