Musicians from Lady Gaga to Coldplay to Swedish metal group Ghost have performed tributes to the iconic rocker and reality TV pioneer Ozzy Osbourne following his death — appropriate for a man who named his 1987 live album Tribute. The Black Sabbath front man died at 76 on July 22 while “with his family and surrounded by love,” according to a statement. The Prince of Darkness was known for his live performances — most famously involving the head of a bat — and as one of the first major celebrities to star in a reality TV series, The Osbournes. Osbourne’s contemporaries like KISS front man Gene Simmons and former collaborators Elton John and Adam Sandler are mourning his death in performances and online.
Kermit the Frog
The Muppets leader mourned their former collaborator on Instagram. “No one rocked harder than the great Ozzy Osbourne,” he wrote. “We loved working with him on our album ‘Kermit: Unpigged.’” Osbourne indeed did a duet on that album with Miss Piggy, a cover of “Born to Be Wild” that must be heard to be believed.
Lady Gaga
At the end of her July 22 Mayhem Ball performance in San Francisco, Gaga exposed an Ozzy Osbourne T-shirt underneath a black leather jacket, then played his 1980 debut solo single “Crazy Train” as she and her dancers walked a catwalk.
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Ghost
The Swedish metal band Ghost dedicated their July 22 “ritual” at Madison Square Garden to Osbourne. “For being the Prince of Darkness, he sure gave us a lot of light,” lead singer Tobias Forge said. “So we’re going to tap into that and carry it forward, through a time of darkness.”
Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler shared a still of himself and Osbourne from the rocker’s cameo in Little Nicky, where Sandler played a son of Satan. “Whether we were in our basements with our brothers, in the woods with our buddies, in the car, at a keg party, on a boat, at football practice, at a sleepover … Nobody was more badass to crank up on our speakers than the one and only prince of darkness — Ozzy Osborne!” Sandler wrote in the caption. “Loved him a lot like we all did! Sending love to the family and so happy to have spent time with the legend himself. RIP.”
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