System of a Down delivered a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne during their East Rutherford concert on Wednesday night, performing a rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind” at MetLife Stadium.
The performance marked the band’s first New York City-area show in over a decade and their first concert since Osbourne’s death on July 22nd, reports Rolling Stone.
The tribute began with guitarist Daron Malakian leading the crowd in a passionate “Ozzy! Ozzy!” chant before channelling the metal legend’s iconic stage presence. Malakian delivered Osbourne’s trademark introduction with reverent accuracy, announcing: “We’re gonna do a number now about cocaine, it’s called ‘Snowblind’.”
The song choice carried particular significance beyond its status as a Black Sabbath classic. System of a Down first covered “Snowblind” over 25 years ago as part of the soundtrack for Osbourne’s MTV reality show ‘The Osbournes’. The track became a staple of their live performances during the early 2000s, though Wednesday’s rendition marked the first time they had played it in concert since August 2002 at OzzFest.
Following Osbourne’s passing, each member of System of a Down shared heartfelt tributes on social media, accompanied by behind-the-scenes footage from their OzzFest appearances. Malakian’s tribute particularly captured the profound impact Osbourne had on him as a young musician.
“If you can see my face and my eyes in this pic you can see that I felt like I was in a dream. That’s because as a kid Ozzy was such a big deal for me he actually appeared in my dreams,” Malakian wrote. “I was only 22 or 23 yrs old when this pic was taken, so I was still a kid. But I was living my dream standing next to the guy I idolised my whole life.”
Singer Serj Tankian added his own perspective on Osbourne’s mentorship, describing him as “our musical Godfather, inducting us into the world of Ozzfest as a young band. He was always funny with a disdain for hypocrisy, a quality I will forever admire and cherish.”
