ELMONT, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 07: Yungblud, Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry perform during a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for MTV)
Getty Images for MTV
The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards payed tribute to the late prince of darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, with a special star studded performance. Yungblud, alongside Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and longtime Ozzy Osbourne keyboardist Adam Wakeman, delivered a medley of Osbourne’s iconic anthems “Crazy Train,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and Black Sabbath’s “Changes.”
All these musicians performed at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell performance Back to the Beginning in July, which happened only two weeks before the singer’s death. It was later revealed that Osbourne’s death was a result of a heart attack.
Yungblud became close with Osbourne and his family leading up to his unexpected death, and after his viral performance of “Changes” at Back to the Beginning, Yungblud has since vowed to perform the Black Sabbath hit at all of his shows to honor Ozzy Osbourne.
Yungblud’s rendition of “Changes” at the VMAs was no less spectacular.
However, the real showstopper came after “Changes” when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry surprised audiences and accompanied Yungblud with a legendary performance of “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” Given Tyler’s age and all the experience under his belt, it was shocking just how great he sounded. The same could be said about his performance at Back to the Beginning only few months prior.
Furthermore, the fact Tyler and Aerosmith canceled their farewell tour back in 2024 as a result of Tyler suffering a vocal injury, it’s amazing and also bittersweet to see Aerosmith’s members performing so well again. It’s just too bad the band wasn’t able to see through their farewell tour.
All that being said, it’s great to see the next generation is in good hands with Yungblud.
As a performer, Yungblud is a spitting image of a rockstar. In fact, it’s poetic to see him perform alongside Steven Tyler as the two are just mirrors of each other just from different generations.
Yungblud has certainly been getting a lot of deserved attention as of late, particularly from the hard rock and metal crowds as a result of his tributes to Ozzy Osbourne. Maybe this will influence his next album to sonically resonate more with these new fans he’s since won over.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quentinsinger/2025/09/08/2025-mtv-vmas-pay-tribute-to-ozzy-osbourne/
