On July 5, 2025, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath played their last ever gig.
The rocker, known to fans as The Prince Of Darkness, revealed in 2020 that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and performed his final concert while sitting in a black iron throne in the centre of the stage.
While some rock and metal fans fear Osbourne may have been the last true rock star, for years he has been working behind the scenes to coach the man he would one day pass the torch to.
That man is Dominic Richard Harrison, better known to the world as Yungblud.
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The Back to the Beginning concert saw Osbourne take to the stage one last time, with rock legends such as Metallica, Pantera and Slayer on the lineup to pay tribute to a legend.
Forty-five thousand fans gathered for the musical event of a lifetime, most beyond excited to witness such a stacked lineup.
But what people weren’t expecting was Yungblud’s cover of Black Sabbath’s legendary track Changes.
Harrison was invited to pay tribute to the band by Osbourne himself, with many in the crowd having no idea who he was.
But, after the performance – which has been dubbed the “highlight” of the event by several critics – it’s safe to say Ozzy Osbourne has officially passed the baton.
Dominic Harrison is the new face of rock.
Harrison was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire on August 5, 1977, before moving to London as a teenager to study at Arts Educational Schools.
He kicked off his media career in 2015 with TV roles in shows Emmerdale and The Lodge, soon turning to music after discovering it as an outlet.
“I think I was very misunderstood growing up. I always had a lot of energy and was very opinionated – a lot of people mistook that for being naughty or different,” he told Boot Music in an interview following the release of his debut, self titled EP in January 2018.
“People were suppressing my ideas when I was young… all my life, in fact. My music is literally like an outburst against that, it is integral to everything.”
He said he was inspired by artists who “spoke about real s— in their music” with the “undeniable fear to say what they think”.
Over the years he’s released a total four studio albums, rapidly gaining an international fanbase loyally devoted to him as a musician.
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Although people may look at his image and music and think of him someone a little rough around the edges, Harrison is quite the opposite.
While his on-stage persona, Yungblud, is quite cheeky, through interviews with the musician fans quickly came to realise what he is all about – using music to create a community and safe space for everyone.
“I really wanted to test myself as a songwriter to create a sense of ambiguity, even though this thing I was writing about was so specific, so it would adhere to Mary’s life, as well as it does to mine. Even though we’re from different places, different cultures, different ideas,” Harrison said in a recent interview with The Music.
“We grew up differently; we saw different things. But we connect on a fundamental level: that we’re f—ing human.
“We feel that the way we work is the same, and I believe that’s what’s wrong with the world right now, is we’re forgetting that we all tick the same.”
It was that passion and love – as well as his sheer talent – that drew Ozzy to the young artist several years ago.
In 2022, Harrison released the self-titled album Yungblud, including a song titled The Funeral, which he described at the time as “pretty rock and roll”.
When it came time to make the music video, he reached out to close friend Kelly Osbourne to ask if she would consider being a part of it. Unfortunately, she was out of town on the dates they were filming.
However, she didn’t leave Harrison empty-handed, instead offering to have her parents take her place.
“I was like, ‘What?!'” he said in an interview with Billboard.
“And then, yeah, I met Ozzy and Sharon, and it was amazing, and they were in it.”
That was Harrison’s first time meeting Ozzy, who he’s said has been a major inspiration to him and his music.
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After filming, both Ozzy and Sharon took to social media to praise the young star with Ozzy declaring The Funeral a “F—ing great song” and Sharon dubbing Harrison “a f—ing star!”
In an interview with NME, Harrison discussed the experience of working with one of his idols, sharing the advice Ozzy gave him after opening up about hate he’d received online.
”People think [Ozzy] is kind of… gone, but he’s not,” he said.
“He’s so intelligent and so f—ing beautiful. People are scared of him until they hear him speak. He said that he saw a lot of himself in me.
“He said, ‘Never apologise for anything. They will understand you later. Time always tells.'”
That music video was the beginning of a close relationship between Harrison and the Osbourne family, with the young singer presenting Ozzy with the Rolling Stone UK Icon Award in 2023.
“Ozzy is the definition of a rock and roll star. Fact. Underline it,” he said.
”He represents defiance to a world of regulation and normality. He taught me that it’s okay to be mental. He taught me that it’s okay to be crazy, it’s okay to be an outsider, it’s alright to be different.
“His music, his attitude is something that genuinely shaped me. It f—ing did, he was there when nobody else was. When everyone was like, ‘this kid’s a bit too mental, this kid’s a bit too out there’, f—ing Ozzy was there man, for me and millions of kids.”
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Harrison shared the story of the advice Ozzy gave him while shooting The Funeral music video, recalling that when he turned to the musician for help, Ozzy gave him half his sandwich, a ginger beer and his own golden cross necklace and told him never to apologise.
Ahead of Black Sabbath’s final gig earlier this month, Harrison returned the favour, giving Ozzy a heartfelt gift the day before the show.
In a clip posted to Instagram captioned, “my f—ing hero”, Harrison gifted Osbourne a golden cross necklace with diamonds in it, handcrafted by a close friend.
”Oh my good god, that is f—ing unbelievable,” Ozzy said opening the gift.
“I never took mine off that you gave me, so I wanted to return the favour,” Harrison told him.
The sweet clip saw the two musicians showering each other with praise, before Ozzy told Harrison to let him know if there’s “anything we can ever do for you”.
“You know what, the f—ing music was enough,” he responded.
“Thank you so much.”
Then, the next day, Harrison shocked the world when he stole the show with his flawless cover of Changes in tribute to Ozzy.
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Rolling Stone UK wrote that the performance “stopped the stadium in its tracks” while Louder Sound described it as “colossal” saying that Harrison “set Villa Park alight”.
“He’s sincere, passionate and wins a huge response from a crowd who might not be familiar with him, compelling a whole-stadium singalong,” wrote The Guardian.
“One song and he’s gone, having stolen the first third of the show.”
But possibly the most meaningful praise Harrison received for the performance came from Ozzy himself.
Under a video of the performance shared to social media, the Black Sabbath singer left a simple three word comment: “Better than me.”
Now Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath have taken their final bow, fans are saying the legendary singer has officially passed the torch to Harrison.
Other icons such as Steven Tyler have been spotted at the young star’s shows, cheering him on from the sidelines, and with his performance of Changes it seems Harrison has now earned himself a whole new legion of fans.
Back to the Beginning was always marketed as the end of an era, but now, with Harrison’s show-stealing performance, fans are wondering if Ozzy had planned all along for the event to mark a symbolic hand-off to the next generation.
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