Ozzy Osbourne Had Help From Zakk Wylde During His Iconic Final Show originally appeared on Parade.
Ozzy Osbourne delivered his legendary final show on July 5—just weeks before his tragic death.
The rock icon, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, had some help from guitarist Zakk Wylde while performing his 1991 hit, “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
A clip from the concert, taken by a fan, shows Wylde, 58, playing his acoustic guitar away from his vocal microphone so that his instrument can be picked up by a second mic, Ultimate Classic Rock reported.
The Black Label Society founder—who is still wearing his electric guitar underneath his acoustic—then looks around before he pauses his playing and moves the acoustic mic closer to the vocal mic. He then resumes playing and sings along with Osbourne.
Fans reacted to the heartwarming moment on Facebook, with one writing, “Zakk started with Ozzy at the age of 19. He would’ve done anything in the world for the boss. They had a remarkable relationship!”
Another said, “Look at Zack stepping up to help back up Ozzy Singing. There was a lot of love in that moment.”
A third wrote, “Zakk was MVP that night. He played his heart out for Ozzy and loved him dearly. It showed every second of that show.”
In an interview with Guitar Worldpublished on July 29, Wylde spoke about that final performance with the Black Sabbath lead vocalist, saying, “With ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ when we got the acoustic out, I had to be like, ‘Keep the guitar away from the microphone so I can sing,’ because Oz’s voice was having trouble at certain notes.”
He continued, “I was like, ‘I need to make sure I’m always there so I can double him.’ I was like three feet away from the microphone when I started playing the song. I was like, ‘I gotta get near the microphone,’ so I had to almost stop playing, lift the guitar up and put it over the mic.”
The rocker added, “It was like juggling balls or chainsaws while being on a skateboard! It was actually pretty funny—but it was business as usual. It’s supposed to be the most important show ever, but everything’s on the fly!”
Wylde and Osbourne had a long history, as the former began playing for the “Crazy Train” singer in 1987 and played with him regularly until 2009.
The pair formed a close bond over the years, with Wylde telling Guitar World, “So even if I hadn’t played with him, he gave me purpose to be a musician. And without a doubt, that’ll always be with me.”
Following an extremely successful career, Osbourne died on July 22, 2025 at age 76 from cardiac arrest.
Ozzy Osbourne Had Help From Zakk Wylde During His Iconic Final Show first appeared on Parade on Aug 13, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.