British singer, songwriter and musician Yungblud — whose real name is Dominic Richard Harrison — has posted a video capturing a tender moment between him and Ozzy Osbourne, taken ahead of Black Sabbath‘s farewell concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom, which took place on July 5th.
Speaking about the significance of the moment, Yungblud said, “Back in 2022 on the video shoot for The Funeral, Ozzy gave me his gold cross and said, ‘I hope this brings you luck.’ I thought, on this monumental moment for him and Sabbath, it was time for me to return the favor and let him know what he and the band means to me.”
At Saturday’s concert, Yungblud sang a version of Black Sabbath‘s Changes, backed by Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt on guitar, Anthrax‘s Frank Bello on bass, Sleep Token‘s II on drums and Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne touring keyboardist Adam Wakeman on keys. The original version of Changes appeared on Black Sabbath‘s fourth album, Vol. 4, released in 1972.
6 Responses
The metal purists will probably disagree with me, but Yungblud gave the best vocal performance of the day with “Changes.”
Nope. ‘Demon of Screamin’ ST, hands down.
Ok, I’ll admit it’s a tie – Yungblud and Steven Tyler. The thing is, it’s expected that Tyler would deliver a great performance at a hard rock/heavy metal show. Yungblud’s stellar performance was totally unexpected.
Must be me?
We listened to the Yungblud performance, for a few seconds, and skipped right past it, However, I admit to not being a ballads type of gal (I think I can count the ballads I appreciate on one hand, maybe two?), that song is never on my Sabbath rotation, far too depressing. However, I think, the late, great, Freddie Mercury, or the sadly late, George Michaels, would have done an exemplary job, covering, Changes.
As for Tyler, it begs the question, “Vocal” issues?
To be clear, I wasn’t so much thinking about who could have sung it best, as much as I was commenting on the actual performances that took place. Funny enough, I’m reading the Geezer Butler memoirs and he refers to the fact that the song was a serious departure for the band and admits that it was a very depressing track.
As for Tyler’s vocal issues, I think it’s most likely a case where he’s able to do one-offs and sound great, but an entire tour – at least at this point – would be not be possible.
So Geezer agrees with my assessment, that Changes is very depressing? LOL!!!
I read on Song Facts, that while discussing the lyrical inspiration for the song, Black Sabbath, Geezer admitted to suffering from depression, paranoia, etc. He felt it could have been from drug abuse, however, he stated that he was dabbling in the black arts, after being raised as a strict Catholic.
He said that by doing so, it opened up a very dark portal, as he started suffering from negative thought patterns, and both his aunt, and uncle, who lived next door, died suddenly. He added the song, is meant as a warning to others, considering dabbling in Satanism (I suppose) and the dark arts, NOT to attempt it.
As for Tyler, perhaps you are right, he is able to manage singing a few songs, but not an entire concert.