According to blabbermouth.net, during their performance on August 1, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne by performing a cover of  Black Sabbath’s “Solitude” at the Beyond The Gates festival in Bergen, Norway. “Solitude” was first released on Black Sabbath‘s 1971 album, Master Of Reality and later as the B-side to the single, “Children Of The Grave.”

Two days after Osbourne died, Opeth guitarist and vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt went on social media to write: “So that dreadful day finally came. John Michael Osbourne has left us, and it’s so incredibly hard to accept it. Even if I have braced myself for this inevitable fact since the 80s it just feels completely unreal. He was like an ancient oak tree to me. A listed tree that people would visit and marvel at.”

The artist adds: “Ozzy came into my life in the late 70s and early 80s (I can’t remember exactly, I admit) when I heard ‘Iron Man’ on a cassette player in Sörskogen/Huddinge/Stockholm. I was just a child and ‘that’ voice in the beginning scared the living daylights out of me. BLACK SABBATH was my introduction to heavy rock/metal and has remained a lifelong companion since. I’ve read some posts from other musicians and can only concur. If it wasn’t for Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH my interest in music (as a whole) wouldn’t have taken off as it did. I became obsessed with them, and I suppose I still am.”

Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi