IT was the second coming of the Prince of Darkness, as Ozzy Osbourne was once again inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But 18 years after he was first honoured with his band Black Sabbath, this ceremony wasn’t the one the Birmingham-born rock legend had planned for.
Just over a week ago, Ozzy had still hoped he would be able to perform at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sadly, however, he became a spectator at the show due to poor health, and my heart ached as I watched him sitting at the side of the stage with his adoring wife Sharon as Jack Black kicked off an epic monologue about the “greatest frontman in rock ’n’ roll history”.
Then, as if by magic, Ozzy appeared centre stage, sat on a bat-themed throne fit for a king, never mind a prince.
His voice wavered as he started to speak, and the emotion of the night was palpable.
But despite everything, Ozzy still gave it his all.
“Well, here we are,” he told the crowd, which included music royalty such as Roger Daltrey, Dionne Warwick and Dr Dre.
Ozzy laughed and added: “You know what, I can’t believe I am here myself.
“I am not going to bore you with a long, drawn-out f***ing monologue.
“My fans have been so loyal to me over the years. I cannot thank them enough.
“I have been fortunate over the years to play with some of the world’s greatest guitar players, drummers, bass players.
“A few of them are here tonight.”
He paid tribute to guitar player Randy Rhoads, who co-wrote his first two albums and died in a plane crash in 1982.
During their final conversation, the musician told Ozzy to lay off his heavy drinking, warning him: “You’ll kill yourself, you know, one of these days.”
Ozzy told the crowd: “If I hadn’t met Randy, I don’t think I would be sitting here now.”
Ozzy’s greatest thanks were to his beloved Sharon, who welled up as he spoke, with his children Kelly and Jack watching from the wings.
His voice tinged with emotion, he said: “She saved my life.”
The last time I met Sharon, she talked movingly about her love for Ozzy, who she married in 1982 — and it is clear he loves her now more than ever.
A band of rockers then paid tribute to Ozzy, with Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, keyboardist Adam Wakeman and singer Andrew Wyatt storming their way through his 1980 song Crazy Train.
Rapper and singer Jelly Roll and guitarist Zakk Wylde then sailed through Mama, I’m Coming Home, before Billy Idol fronted the title track from Ozzy’s 1991 album No More Tears.
Ozzy sang along with every song and conducted his group of pals from his throne — but, poignantly, during No More Tears, he turned to the crowd and seemed moved by the sight of his peers who were all standing and applauding him.
It might not have been the night Ozzy had envisioned, but it will still go down in history.
- To watch the full ceremony, head over to Disney+.
Peter’s happy memories
WE might be 3,739 miles from home but South London-born Peter Frampton told me he feels more than at home in Cleveland.
Speaking to me, the Show Me The Way singer joked: “I’ve been coming to Cleveland for as long as I can remember but unfortunately I can’t remember much these days.”
Luckily, he had no problems on stage alongside The Who’s Roger Daltrey, who inducted him on the night.
And Peter recalled doing an early tour with the band saying: “One night, backstage, Keith Moon and John Entwistle decided to show me the rock ropes.
“Every time I went near the window and looked out, all the girls would start screaming.
“The next thing I knew, I was being dangled out of the third-story window by my ankles.
“This was amid the maniacal laughter of Keith and John.
“They thought I should be closer to my fans, obviously. And I was 17.”
Peter’s moment in the spotlight was topped off by a spine-tingling, seven and a half minute rendition of his song Do You Feel Like I Do with Keith Urban.
Peter, who lives with inclusion body myositis, an autoimmune disease that causes progressive muscle weakness, went on to thank his fans for keeping him going.
He said backstage: “This is why I am a live player.
“The fans make me play better because of the adrenaline I get from them.”
HELL hath no fury like Cher scorned – and eight months ago firmly told the Hall of Fame nominating committee she’d never accept an induction after being snubbed for the past 34 years.
But what a difference a little time, and a begging bowl can make…as on Saturday night she stood in front of me as one of the newly inducted stars.
“I had a love-hate relationship because I was like, what do I have to f***ing do to be inducted into this place?” Cher tells me.
“Like what do you have to do to be a part of it?”
The answer, it turns out, is having influential friends – as film producer David Geffen put his foot down.
Cher explained: “My guardian angel David, he wrote a letter and sent it to the directors and…there you go.
“Thank you, David, thank you for caring so much about me.”
Speaking to me backstage, Cher added: “When I heard of the people who were going to be in and the people I admire, I thought, ‘I am going to be in with this group of people that I care about. I don’t care about where I am with them’.
“I can say I am happy I am in, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be here.
“I didn’t expect to get in, I thought, ‘They’re never going to let you in b***h’.”
Cher certainly came out swinging and was joined by the brilliant Dua Lipa – who swotted up on the music icon by secretly visiting the Hall of Fame museum before the gig – for a duet of her 1998 hit Believe.
She went on to storm through Turn Back Time and sounded just as impressive live as she did two decades ago.
Opening up about her rise to the top, Cher told the crowd how she refused to be beaten down – after being dropped by four record labels and told her career was over.
“I have been so down, as my mother would say, lower than a snake’s belly, that is how down I have been,” she said defiantly.
“People told me I was finished, I was through.
“My life has been a rollercoaster and the one thing I have never done is give up.
“I never give up.”
Mary is family aware
LIKE Cher, Mary J Blige took a pop at the Hall of Fame organisers for waiting so long to welcome her as an inductee.
Speaking after her brilliant mash-up performance, the Family Affair singer said: “Man, it’s been a long time coming.
“There were times in my life I didn’t think I would be here.”
She was inducted by Method Man and Dr Dre – who struggled to read the autocue.
After waiting decades for the nod, Mary took her time thanking her fans and clocked up the longest speech of the night – talking for just over 12 minutes.
It was worth it though, and she became emotional as she opened up about the impact her mum had on her life.
“Mummy, I love you so much,” Mary said.
“I watched you struggle as a single mother raising your two babies in a project that was I mean, could have damn near been a prison.
“You instilled into us to work hard and take care of ourselves.
“I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for you.
“This is history for me and my family.
“I’m building for longevity.
“I’m building for legacy.
“And I’m building for history.
“The queen of hip hop soul is a rock star.”
Dave’s dream day
THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND got one of the loudest cheers of the night, with actress Julia Roberts clearly thrilled to be inducting one of her favourite groups.
But for frontman Dave, it was a pinch-me moment being inducted alongside band Foreigner.
Dave told me: “When I was taking guitar lessons as a kid, one day I was waiting for my mum and these people were coming past with crates on wheels and on it, it said Foreigner.
“The first time we ever recorded in a studio, we were in one studio room and in the next room was Foreigner.
“And now we are getting in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with . . . Foreigner.”
Talk about a full circle moment.
DIONNE WARWICK heaped praise on Teyana Taylor, the rising star who will play her music legend in a new biopic about her life, as she spoke with me backstage.
“Did you look at her? Did she look like me?” Dionne said with a laugh after being inducted by Teyana.
“She is a triple threat, she sings, she dances and she is an actress.
“I have seen her films, I got to know her and as I got to know her I found that she was doing all of the research that she could find on me.
“She knows more about me than I know about myself.”
Dionne, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame after an incredible 60-year career, added: “I personally chose her – based on a couple of photographs I found.
“One of her and one of me.
“We had them interposed together and I can’t think of anybody else who would ever do it.”
Joined by Jennifer Hudson on stage, who sang Dionne’s 1979 classic, I’ll Never Love This Way Again, Dionne gave me chills as she gave a solo performance of my favourite of her tunes, Walk On By.
NEWLY inducted Kool & The Gang star Robert Bell poked fun at Will Smith for his take on their 1974 hit Summer Madness.
Speaking backstage with James ‘JT’ Taylor about how acts “sampled” their works over the years, Robert said: “Will didn’t do too much sampling, he rapped over the whole track.
“He got papers, double platinum and he went on to become a movie star.”
JT added: “Credit to the hip hop genre, they get a lot of flak when they take a little audio file and splice it up to make a brand new thing.
“It’s not the original thing but they make something original from it. It is give and take.
“It is humbling at the same time but when you have the original piece – you’ve got to pay up guys. And they really do now.”
LIAM PAYNE was featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s “in memoriam” segment in a touching moment during the ceremony.
A picture of the One Direction star, who passed away last Wednesday, showed up on the big screen inside the arena alongside stars including Radio 1 DJ Annie Nightingale and Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan.
Bey prepared
SHE may be three years away from being eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but Beyonce looks more than ready for the accolade.
To make the cut for the Hall Of Fame ballot, artists must have a career which has spanned at least 25 years and must be proven to have created a cultural impact.
The glam businesswoman, dressed in a sparkly pinstripe suit for an event with husband Jay-Z at the weekend, has certainly achieved the latter in spades.
And it seems the Hall Of Fame could be getting prepared to welcome her after its museum in Cleveland put on a Beyonce fan day to celebrate the release of Cowboy Carter, which featured talks and special playbacks of some of her best music videos earlier this year.
That induction will be one to put in the diary.
The week in bizness
WEDNESDAY: TOM HARDY and Chiwetel Ejiofor will be on the red carpet at the UK premiere of Venom: The Last Dance at the BFI Imax Waterloo in London.
THURSDAY: A Musical of The Devil Wears Prada opens in the West End with songs from Sir Elton John.
FRIDAY: New albums hitting the shelves include The Night The Zombies Came from Pixies, Razorlight’s Planet Nowhere and simply titled & by Bastille.
SUNDAY: LEIGH-ANNE kicks off the UK-leg of her debut solo tour at Birmingham’s O2 Institute ahead of shows in London and Manchester, and following a Dublin gig on Friday.
