“We love you, Ozzy!” Nuno Bettencourt covers three Ozzy Osbourne classics with Extreme – and nails Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee’s iconic solos
Nuno Bettencourt has carried some of the Ozzy-honouring magic he displayed at Back to the Beginning onto the stage with Extreme, with the band tearing through a medley of Ozzy Osbourne classics in Zürich.
The Swiss capital was treated to three choice cuts from the Prince of Darkness’ Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee eras, with I Don’t Know, Bark at the Moon, and Crazy Train merged into one pinch-harmonic ravished medley.
In a shock to no-one, Bettencourt’s soloing chops are as superlative as ever, and it’s clear he’s loving every second of the spot. Crazy Train is kept extremely faithful to the original, but with a searing and signature guitar tone that screams Bettencourt even when the notes don’t. Other moments were toyed with far more.
Many had expected Jake E. Lee to mark his first show by Ozzy’s side in nearly 40 years by playing his biggest hit, Bark at the Moon. However, health issues forced him to pivot to plan B, and Bettencourt, wielding a mysterious new guitar, took the honor of playing the song’s pyrotechnic leads.
At the X-TRA House of Music, Bark at the Moon made a return with a transition out of I Don’t Know so buttery smooth it takes a minute for Bettencourt’s genius to land with some factions of the audience. His soloing across those two tracks is a little less scripted; his fire and flair weaves into Lee and Rhoads’ licks sensationally well. The energy of the performance is palpable.
“We love you, Ozzy!” bellows vocalist Gary Cherone at the end of the set, after his bandmate had sneaked in a little taste of the Iron Man riff.
It sees Bettencourt continuing a tradition of honoring the dead with shred, having previously said he feels responsible for keeping Eddie Van Halen’s flame alive. He’s done that by covering Van Halen classics on a custom Bumblebee Washburn guitar, and also joined a tribute band to nail the daylights out of Hot For Teacher back in March. The guitar solo on the 2024 track, Rise, was penned as a tribute to his hero, and it’s one of the finest modern solos around.
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In the wake of Ozzy’s passing, the guitarist took to Instagram to not only pay tribute to the singer for “being a big part of the soundtrack of my childhood and decades afterwards,” but also to honor the “three chosen ones: Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wylde.”
“You were an integral part of what made Ozzy Ozbourne who he was as an artist. His ‘not so’ secret weapon,” he wrote. “And what was even more amazing is that every single one of you three brought your own DNA to each era.
“It would’ve been easy and safe for you to replicate the previous guitar god; instead, you brought your own fucking shoes and cemented your own individual legacies.”
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