Rod Stewart dedicated a song to Ozzy Osbourne at his concert in Canada Tuesday night.
The 80-year-old singer, who was performing in Toronto as part of his tour on July 22 when the news broke of Ozzy‘s death, dedicated his performance of “Forever Young” to the legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman.
He said: “We’ll dedicate this one to you Ozzy. ‘Forever Young’.”
Rod then sang the song as pictures of Ozzy appeared on the big screen behind him.
Earlier in the day, Stewart took to social media to express his thoughts on Osbourne‘s passing. He posted the message on his Instagram, with white writing on a black background.
“Bye, bye Ozzy. Sleep well, my friend. I’ll see you up there – later rather than sooner,” Stewart wrote.
Rod and Ozzy had previously worked together, having both appeared on stage at the late Queen Elizabeth‘s Golden Jubilee “Party At The Palace” celebration.
Ozzy died Tuesday morning (July 22),his family announced in a statement.
“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the family said.
No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson’s disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.
Ozzy‘s death came a little more than two weeks after he took the stage for his final performance with BLACK SABBATH at Villa Park in the band’s original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom. They performed four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.
The legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman was diagnosed in 2003 with Parkin 2 — a very rare genetic form of Parkinson’s. During a TV appearance in January 2020, the singer disclosed that he was ‘stricken” with the disease which occurs when the nerve cells of the body degenerate and levels of dopamine are reduced. Dopamine is an essential chemical that is produced by these nerve cells which send signals to different parts of the brain to control movements of the body.
Ozzy‘s health issues, including suffering a nasty fall and dislodging metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003, as well as catching COVID-19 three years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.
Despite his health problems, Osbourne had performed a couple of times in the last three years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.
