Watch Ozzy Osbourne make a surprise appearance at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony

9 August 2022, 12:30 | Updated: 9 August 2022, 12:43

Ozzy Osbourne makes surprise appearance at Commonwealth Games closing ceremony

By Jenny Mensah

The Black Sabbath legend gave a firework-laden performance of the band's Paranoid anthem with Tony Iommi at the closing ceremony.

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Ozzy Osbourne made a surprise appearance at this year’s Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

The Black Sabbath legend, who hails from Aston, returned to Birmingham for an electric performance of the band's Paranoid anthem.

Taking to the stage with his former bandmate guitarist Tony Iommi alongside Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on bass, they treated crowds to the intro of Iron Man before Osbourne told the crowd: "Come on, let's go crazy".

Watch a clip of the firework-laden performance shared by the official Commonwealth Games Instagram account above.

Ozzy Osbourne at the Commonwealth Games. Picture: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images

The Prince of Darkness previously reacted to the 1970 track being used during the coverage of the games.

Captioning a clip of the TV coverage on Instagram, the 73 year old rocker wrote: "This was played at the end of today’s #CommonwealthGames. I really wish I could have been there with you all. Just amazing for Birmingham!"

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A post shared by Ozzy Osbourne (@ozzyosbourne)

The band's legacy and importance to the city was also made clear at the start of the Commonwealth Games with Iommi, 74 oined by acclaimed saxophonist Soweto Kinch to perform the dream sequence, Hear my Voice - which is based on the title track from 2020 film Trial of the Chicago Seven.

The closing ceremony, which was held at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, also saw performances from the likes of Beverley Knight, UB40, Dexys Midnight Runners, Goldie, The Selecter and Jorja Smith.

Mercury Prize-nominee Laura Mvula, 36, also gave a special performance of a newly commissioned track inspired by Nick Cave's Red Right Hand, the theme song to Peaky Blinders.

2022 has witnessed the most successful Commonwealth Games ever for the home nations, with a combined total of 275 medals, including 85 golds.

England led the way with 57 golds, behind only Australia in the medal table, and 176 in total, while Northern Ireland set national records and Scotland and Wales also thrived.