Pop icon Cyndi Lauper paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne by singing along to his classic song “Crazy Train” during last night’s concert in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Prior to launching into “Time After Time”, from her debut studio album, “She’s So Unusual” (1983),at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Lauper pulled out her iPhone and cued up “Crazy Train”, holding her microphone up to the phone’s speaker so that the crowd could hear the music. She then began singing along to the song’s chorus, helped along by the audience. After switching off the track, she lifted the phone in her left hand and said simply: “For Ozzy.”
The 72-year-old Lauper is on the final leg of her “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” farewell tour, ending a road career that started more than four decades ago.
Lauper was named “Best New Artist” at the 1985 Grammy Awards and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide, with several Top 10 hits.
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.
