When Ozzy Osbourne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time in late 2024, Wolfgang Van Halen put years of virtuosic rivalry and shredded Crazy Train at the ceremony – but what did Ozzy make of the performance?
When the Prince of Darkness launched his post-Sabbath career with Blizzard of Ozz, Randy Rhoads became an immediate guitar hero, and to many, a worthy adversary to the incendiary talents of Eddie Van Halen at the time.
It seemed fitting, then, that Wolfgang would be the one to bring the two names together. On the night of Ozzy's induction, the Mammoth leader teamed up with Tool frontman James Maynard Keenan, Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith, and Andrew Watt to perform the track.
During his acceptance, Ozzy confessed, “If I hadn't met Randy Rhoads, I wouldn't be sitting here right now,” and it seems Wolfgang’s Rhoads impression received his seal of approval.
“At first I was like: ‘Was that good enough?!’’” Wolfgang, in a moment of self-reflection, says of his reaction to the performance in a new interview with Classic Rock. It turns out, any lingering self-doubt was unnecessary.
“His [Ozzy’s] exact words, I believe, were: ‘It was bloody brilliant,’” Wolfgang adds. “He gave me a hug. That meant everything. And I got him to laugh.”
Touring commitments with his band, Mammoth, forced him to pull out of his scheduled appearance at Ozzy's farewell show, Back to the Beginning. So when the legendary singer passed just weeks later, he produced a tear-jerking cover of Mama I’m Coming Home in his honor.
“It sucks that we are in a world that doesn't have Ozzy Osbourne anymore,” he said before playing the song. Wolfgang had heard of Ozzy's passing during soundcheck and knew that “just mentioning it wasn’t enough.”
Elsewhere, Wolfgang has discussed what he believes is an underrated aspect of his dad's playing, and explained why Allan Holdsworth's avant-garde approach to guitar has become an important pillar of his own six-string identity.
