NUNO BETTENCOURT On OZZY OSBOURNE: 'He Was A Godfather To Us'

EXTREME's Nuno Bettencourt spoke to Page Six about what it meant for him to honor Ozzy Osbourne with a medley of Osbourne's greatest hits on Sunday (September 7) at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards alongside AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, and Yungblud. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Listen, that means everything, especially my 15-year-old self as a guitar player coming up and listening to rock and metal. He was a godfather to us. He started it in the early '70s, and that's how rock became heavier and heavier. And for him, what he did with BLACK SABBATH, and then be out of there and have a whole other career as Ozzy Osbourne, the solo artist, and then be a reality star after that, this guy's affected culture in a way and touched everybody in so many different ways. So it means everything. Especially having been part of [Ozzy's final concert] in Birmingham [in early July], and going up and performing and actually talking to him and saying goodbye. We didn't know [he was going to die so soon after that] — I mean, we knew it, but we didn't know it. And so that was really special."

Regarding what it was like to take part in the "Back To The Beginning" concert, Nuno said: "When I was 15 and his guitar player [Randy Rhoads] passed in a bad plane accident in 1982 or '81, I believed when I was 14 that I was gonna replace him. And there was an ad to send a cassette in. So I did — I put a cassette together at 15, sent it in. 'This is my gig. I'm gonna get it.' Of course, I didn't. Nobody ever called. Cut to 12 years later, I'm opening for AEROSMITH with EXTREME in London, and my booking is coming in. [He said], 'Sharon [Ozzy's wife and manager] just called. Ozzy wants you. He wants you to be in the band.' This was 1995, '96. And I said no. I was in a band that we were just up and coming with EXTREME and we had hits out. But the last words we said to each other when we took the big group photo [at 'Back To The Beginning'] and I was at his feet, I grabbed his hand saying, 'Thank you for everything and thank you, Ozzy, for what you mean to me.' And he pulls me in by the hand and he goes, 'You were the only guitar player who said no to me.' But he laughed. He goes, 'I love you.' And he laughs. He goes, 'Thank you for being here' to honor him. And I was, like, 'Thank you.' I said, 'Thank you for everything.'"

Nuno also talked about the vibe between all the musicians who were involved in "Back To The Beginning", saying: "You know what really, really, really blew my mind, is that when you get GUNS N' ROSES and METALLICA — they're the biggest bands in the world — to come together to do something… I've been part of those things before, tributes, and it's always like everybody's egos, they're rock stars. All of a sudden, every member of every band is in the same room. It was like heavy metal summer camp. We were all a bunch of kids again, 'cause Ozzy was like our dad or our godfather, like, 'You guys behave.' But everybody put egos at the door. It was a hug fest. There was so much love, and you could feel it on that stage. Nobody was complaining and everybody was just helping each other out and supporting each other. I've been doing this for 40 years. I've never seen that on a tour anywhere else where everybody was just like a big community and big rock family. And that's what Ozzy does to everybody for us."

Ozzy's son Jack introduced Sunday's tribute at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, along with his four daughters, via a pretaped video, saying, "I wish we could be there with you all tonight as you celebrate my dad's amazing musical journey. I know for sure it would make him incredibly happy to see these great musicians carry on his legacy and help inspire the next generation of rockers." He also gave a "special shout-out" to the artists who took part in the tribute. To conclude the video, Ozzy's granddaughters signed off by shouting in unison, "In the words of our Papa, let's go crazy!"

Yungblud kicked off the tribute with Osbourne's "Crazy Train" before slowing things down with a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Changes". Tyler then took the stage to sing Osbourne's hit ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home", accompanied by Perry on guitar. Yungblud returned to the mic to duet with Tyler on the tune, which ended with pyrotechnics and Yungblud shouting into the microphone, "Ozzy forever!"

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, hosted by LL Cool J, aired live coast to coast from New York's UBS Arena on the CBS Television Network, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Ozzy's long-standing and storied MTV history spans "Headbangers Ball" in the 1980s, "Battle For Ozzfest" and groundbreaking reality TV series "The Osbournes", to name a few. He was honored with the prestigious MTV EMAs Global Icon Award in 2014. Later this year, Paramount+ will debut the feature-length documentary "Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now".

With more than 120 million albums sold worldwide, the global rock icon, multiplatinum singer-songwriter and pop culture phenom was a five-time Grammy winner, two-time Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, both with BLACK SABBATH in 2006 and as a solo artist in 2024, with stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Birmingham Walk Of Stars, among a multitude of other top accolades.

Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife and manager Sharon bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer's friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).

Ozzy's final concert on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom saw him and his fellow original SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward perform four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. The festival served as a tribute to the legendary heavy metal act, including additional performances from such other groups as METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, SLAYER, TOOL, PANTERA and ALICE IN CHAINS. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.

Osbourne leaves behind his wife, Sharon, and their children, Aimée, Kelly and Jack, as well his two older children, Jessica and Louis, from his first marriage to Thelma Riley, and grandchildren.