Just before he passed away in July, Ozzy Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath and played an emotional farewell show in his Birmingham hometown. Osbourne and Sabbath headlined an all-star hard rock lineup, and most of the bands covered Sabbath and Osbourne tracks. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was among the performers. This weekend, he and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry will get together to salute Osbourne at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry last performed together at a Janie's Fund benefit in Los Angeles earlier this year. Aerosmith were supposed to head out on a farewell tour in 2023, but that tour was postponed and ultimately canceled in the midst of Tyler's health issues and sexual assault lawsuits. Joe Perry recently said that he wants Aerosmith to keep going, and this VMA performance certainly seems like a start.
As Stereogum contributor Al Shipley points out, Steven Tyler was actually one of the only performers at the Back To The Beginning concert who didn't cover Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath. (He sang Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" instead.) Aerosmith last performed at the VMAs in 2018, when they joined Post Malone and 21 Savage. The Ozzy tribute at Sunday's VMAs will also include Yungblud and Extreme/Rihanna guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. According to a press release, they'll all get together for a medley of Osbourne's greatest hits.
The VMAs are happening 9/7 -- Sunday night -- at Long Island's UBS Arena. The show will air on CBS and MTV, and it’ll stream on Paramount+.
