Watch: MACHINE HEAD Opens Linz, Austria Concert With Two BLACK SABBATH Covers As Tribute To OZZY OSBOURNE

San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne by opening their concert last night (July 22) at Posthof in Linz, Austria with covers of two BLACK SABBATH classics.

Commented MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn: "We found out that Ozzy had passed away from Sky News 20 minutes before we walked on stage to the opening night of our European tour. In a state of sadness and shock we made the decision to forgo our usual opening setlist.

"Following our intro of Ozzy's 'Diary Of A Madman' (that we've opened every MACHINE HEAD show with for the last 30+ years) we started the show with two BLACK SABBATH songs: 'War Pigs' and 'Children Of The Grave'. Everyone sang, everyone knew tonight meant something, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

"There's so much more to say about the power of Ozzy's songs, but for now, we'll let his music do the talking.

"Our deepest condolences to BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy's band, and the Osbournes."

Back in 2015, Flynn told Metal Talk that he was 13 years old when he was first introduced to SABBATH's music.

"My family moved around a lot so it was kind of hard to make friends," he recalled. "As a kid, I was pretty introverted. The one thing I did get really into was Bruce Lee; I was obsessed with him. My dad signed me up to take judo and jiu-jitsu lessons with this guy who took me under his wing and brought out a lot of confidence in me. I got to be an orange belt, about halfway towards black belt."

After another move, Flynn found himself away from his mentor and in a new environment where he was sparring with older kids. "I'm going up against dudes who were turning into men," he remembered. "They just kicked my ass — they beat the crap out of me.

"My new sensei demoted me from orange belt back down to a yellow belt, and I was furious. I was, like, 'Fuck this.' A week later, my friend Elvis said, 'Let's go smoke weed.' We raided his dad's stash and got high."

According to Flynn, a turning point came when his friend put on SABBATH's "We Sold Our Souls For Rock'N'Roll". "It had this creepy picture of this dead girl in a coffin and she's got this huge chrome cross laying on her chest," he said. "I just remember being high as fuck and terrified of the music that was coming out of the speakers. I had never heard anything so terrifying and dark and evil. It was a revelation. I wanted to make the sound that was coming out of the speakers. I didn't know what it was, or how to do it. But they were the band that made me want to smoke weed, fuck girls, get snowblind and get drunk. And play the darkest, heaviest, most extreme stuff that I could get my hands on."

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.