The night before the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, Dominic Harrison, 28, better known as Yungblud, fired off a text message that carried more weight than most. It wasn’t to a label exec, fellow performer, or even a family member—it was to the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne.
He revealed what the text said in an interview from the VMAs red carpet on Sept. 7, 2025. “I actually sent him a text message last night,” the Idols singer explained. “I just said something like, ‘I hope I do you proud tomorrow and tune in up there. Have a whiskey with Randy for me.”
@etalkctv YUNGBLUD truly had a special relationship with Ozzy Osbourne. ❤️ The rocker spoke to us about texting the late Prince of Darkness the night before his tribute performance with Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Nuno Bettencourt at the 2025 MTV VMAs. #YUNGBLUD #OzzyOsbourne #VMAs #RedCarpet #Interview
He of course means Randy Rhoads, Osbourne’s guitarist on his first two solo records, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Rhoads died in a fatal plane crash on March 19, 1982 at the age of 25. His death fundamentally changed Osbourne and is someone Harrison has referenced the “Crazy Train” singer getting to see again many times since his passing.
Yungblud performed a trio of Osbourne’s songs at the 2025 VMAs alongside Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, who also worked with Osbourne throughout his career, was also part of the tribute performance.
Yungblud is forever changed having lost Osbourne so soon after starting to get to know him. “Obviously I’m gonna miss his madness and his humor, but his heart really” he elaborated in his red carpet interview. “When you really knew Ozzy, you really felt his heart and it would surround you like a f—cking hug. The smile, everything man.”
Yungblud and Ozbourne’s first collaboration came in 2022. He and wife Sharon Osbourne, 72, appeared in the music video for Yungblud’s “The Funeral.”
In July 5, 2025, Yungblud performed “Changes” during the Black Sabbath frontman’s farewell concert and final show before his death on July 22, 2025. Yungblud continues to perform “Changes” every night on tour to honor the rock legend.
