“The Prince of Darkness,” who passed away from a heart attack at the age of 76, was honored by Yungblud, Nuno Bettencourt and Aerosmith members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
The tribute was a medley of Osbourne’s songs. After host LL Cool J introduced the tribute, it opened with Ozzy's son, Jack Osbourne, and his four kids. Although they couldn’t make it to the VMAs, Jack thanked the musicians for honoring his father and the hellraising frontman of Black Sabbath.
“I wish we could all be with you tonight as you celebrate my dad’s amazing musical journey. I know for sure it would make him incredibly happy to see great musicians carrying on his legacy and helping inspire the next generation of rockers. I’d like to give a special shout to Dom, Nuno, Steven and Joe from Aerosmith. We love you dad. Let’s go crazy!” the family said.
Yungblud, real name Dominic Harrison, wore leather low-rise pants and the gold cross pendant that Osbourne gifted him. The shirtless British rocker performed “Crazy Train,” complete with headbanging.
For the next song, he wore a black leather jacket featuring a fur lining for “Changes.” Yungblud, who was recently in Dallas last month at House of Blues for his North American tour, has been immortalizing Obsourne with a show-stopping live performance of this song. He originally did the powerful and emotional cover at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert, and vowed to do “Changes” at every one of his shows.
In the last song, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry did “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” Yungblud joined the rock royalty to close out the performance together. “Ozzy forever, man!” Yungblud said, giving Tyler a kiss after. You can watch it in full below.
A tribute performance to 'The Prince of Darkness' Ozzy Osbourne at the 2025 #VMAs 🖤 @yungblud @IamStevenT @JoePerry @AEROSMITH @nunobettencourt pic.twitter.com/uQXWWzru4U
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 8, 2025
Earlier in the show, Post Malone and Jelly Roll, who performed in Hanover, Germany, for the Big Ass Stadium Tour, did a special rendition of their song “Losers” via satellite. You can watch the Grapevine native and the Nashville star deliver a charismatic performance below and revisit our review of the show at AT&T Stadium over the summer.
