Fans mourning the death of Ozzy Osbourne have been streaming his music in astronomical numbers this week.
Since Osbourne's death at the age of 76 on Tuesday (July 22), his solo work has gained more than 6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while Black Sabbath gained more than 4 million monthly listeners.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, streams of Ozzy's classic track Crazy Train jumped by about 8 million this week and No More Tears earned 7 million new streams.
Mama, I'm Coming Home also gained 7 million streams. Black Sabbath's Paranoid has been streamed more than 9 million times since Ozzy's passing. Iron Man gained about 6 million streams and War Pigs jumped by 5 million.
As the rock and metal community reeled from news of Ozzy's passing, it quickly became apparent just how much crossover appeal he had. Tributes have of course poured in from colleagues and other artists from the world of rock, and those were joined by statements from the worlds of politics, sport and Hollywood.
And the tributes look set to go on as the devastating news continues to affect Ozzy's contemporaries.
Judas Priest and Alice Cooper performed in London last night (Friday, 25 July) and Priest frontman Rob Halford itroduced the song Giants In The Sky with "This music brings us love, it brings us peace,. We build up with it, it gets us through things, especially with what we've being going through these past few days. This is what he'd want us to do. We love you Ozzy."
On the same night, also in London, the reunited Oasis projected Ozzy's image onto big screen during their performance of Live Forever. Frontman Liam Gallagher then dedicated the next song, Rock 'n' Roll Star, to the late Sabbath singer.
Pop star Robbie Williams also paid tribute at his show in Berlin, Germany, projecting Ozzy's image onto big screens during his performance of Angels.
And Pantera have postponed some shows and cancelled others to give the band and their crew time to grieve Ozzy's passing. They say: "Ozzy wasn’t just a legend who shaped the very foundation of heavy metal and inspired Pantera from the beginning – he was family. A mentor, a brother, and a constant presence in our lives both on and off the stage. The bond we shared with him ran far deeper than music.
"In light of this profound loss, we need time and space to grieve – to be with our families, our crew, and each other as we process and honor the life of someone who meant so much to us."
The affected dates can be viewed in the Instagram post below.
Osbourne’s death came a few weeks after he played his retirement show – an all-day extravaganza called Back To The Beginning at Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham on July 5.
