Zakk Wylde’s Quick Move to Help Ozzy During Final Show

A fan-shot video from Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance shows the moment guitarist Zakk Wylde rearranged his stage setup to help his boss deliver with the vocals on “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

In the clip below, Wylde has moved away from his vocal mic so that his acoustic guitar can be picked up by a second mic. He’s still wearing his electric instrument underneath.

He appears to look raound for help before he temporarily stops playing and moves the acoustic mic closer to the vocal mic. He then starts playing again, while singing along too.

The guitarist spoke about the moment last month, saying: “Oz’s voice was having trouble at certain notes. I was like, ‘I need to make sure I’m always there so I can double him.’

“I was like three feet away from the microphone when I started playing the song. I was like, ‘I gotta get near the microphone,’ so I had to almost stop playing, lift the guitar up and put it over the mic.”

READ MORE: The Text Message Ozzy Sent Zakk Wylde After Back to the Beginning Show in Birmingham

He joked: “It was like juggling balls or chainsaws while being on a skateboard. It was actually pretty funny… It’s supposed to be the most important show ever, but everything’s on the fly!”

Ozzy’s raw vocal from the Back to the Beginning performance of “Mama, I’m Coming Home” went viral not long after the farewell concert had ended. While he struggled, it came after an extremely emotional moment where the metal legend told the crowd about his health problems and years-long desire to return to the stage. That performance, in tandem with the poignant lyrics, left fans in tears.

Watch Zakk Wylde Help Ozzy Osbourne Sing ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’

About “Mama, I’m Coming Home”

“Mama, I’m Coming Home” was co-written by Wylde and Osbourne, with lyrics by Motorhead legend Lemmy Kilmister. It appeared on Osbourne’s 1991 album No More Tears and, when released as a single, reached No.28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.2 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

It was the only song performed during Osbourne’s final set that hadn’t originally appeared on his debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz.