Cage the Elephant covered Ozzy Osbourne‘s ‘Changes’ in tribute to the late singer at their Lollapalooza performance – watch footage of the moment below.
- READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025: culture-smashing revolutionary that redefined rock and reality TV
The heavy metal pioneer died last month (July 22) at age 76, which came shortly after he took to the stage for his final-ever live shows at Sabbath’s huge ‘Back To The Beginning’ event in Birmingham on July 5.
The historic gig saw Osbourne reunite with former bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, with Yungblud covering 1972 track ‘Changes’ that evening. After Ozzy’s death, he vowed to do the cover at every future show.
On Thursday (July 31), Cage The Elephant then took on the Vol. 4 track at Lollapalooza. Addressing the Chicago crowd, frontman Matt Shultz said: “This past week, we lost, to say a legend would not do it justice, but a beautiful human being. When I think about this song, I think about all the little babies in the world.
“I just became a father myself, and Ozzy was a beautiful baby that grew to become a beautiful human being. So, this goes out to all the beautiful babies in the world who will grow up to become beautiful human beings to do beautiful things.”
Cage The Elephant hit us with an emotional tribute to Ozzy at Lollapalooza <3 @Q101Chicago #Lolla101 #Ozzy #Changes pic.twitter.com/4NU8x88Qdp
— Lauren O’Neil (@laurenoneil) August 1, 2025
The band join the likes of Judas Priest, Metallica, Elton John, Ronnie Wood, Tom Morello and Oasis in paying tribute to the heavy metal revolutionary. They’re set to join the latter on the North American leg of their 2025 reunion tour, which kicks off this month at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium on August 24.
“It’s an honour to support Oasis,” guitarist Brad Shultz told NME last year. “It’s a band that me and Matt [vocalist and younger brother] grew up with. The first song that I ever learned on guitar was ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles, and the second song was ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis. Not too shabby with my first two songs!”
“Oasis were probably the band that we knew the most about, but that was one of the great, eye-opening things when we moved to the UK,” he added. “The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, bands of that nature – we became obsessed with that whole scene. It had a lasting effect on us, and [has become] a big staple in our songwriting, nowadays.”
The same day as Cage The Elephant’s Lollapalooza performance, thousands took to the streets of Birmingham to leave flowers and emotional tributes to the music icon, lining the streets to witness the funeral procession.
Ozzy was laid to rest at a private ceremony in Buckinghamshire, which was attended by Elton John, members of Metallica and more.
Recent weeks have seen a push from fans for both Birmingham Airport and a stage at Download Festival to be renamed after the late singer. A Change.org petition for the former got over 5,000 signees in less than two days, and currently stands at over 61,000 signatures.
The Prince of Darkness spoke about what he wanted for his final send-off in a Dear Ozzy column for The Times in 2011. “I honestly don’t care what they play at my funeral; they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and We Are The Diddy Men if it makes ’em happy… But I do want to make sure it’s a celebration, not a mope-fest,” he wrote at the time.
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