Following the announcement of Ozzy Osbourne’s death, fans worldwide paid tribute to the metal icon by turning to his music. Muse Group—the company behind Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore—analyzed which songs were most played and learned in the days after his passing, covering both his solo work and his time with Black Sabbath. Drawing from tens of millions of views on tabs and sheet music, the data reveals which tracks resonated most with musicians.
Over the past year, two key events caused big jumps in daily plays of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath songs on Ultimate Guitar. The main big jump in views happened when the news of Ozzy’s death broke on July 22: views skyrocketed more than tenfold, peaking at 250,000 views on July 23 alone. In Europe and the UK, traffic first increased by a factor of 5, then jumped to 20 times the usual level, revealing how many musicians returned to playing Ozzy’s songs in a powerful tribute through his music.
Before his solo career, Ozzy Osbourne was the original frontman of BLACK SABBATH — a band that shaped the sound of heavy metal. Their farewell concert caused one more spike, with daily song views more than tripling — from about 12,000 to 40,000 during that week. After Ozzy‘s passing, many musicians also returned to the music he made with the band that began it all. Metal music and Black Sabbath have always been popular with the Ultimate Guitar community, which has had a thriving metal forum since the 2000s. Ultimately, in July 2025, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath became the #1 most-played artists in the heavy metal genre on Ultimate Guitar, surpassing Metallica, who had held the top spot for over a year.
Ultimate Guitar stats highlight the popularity of tracks known for their standout emotional ballads, heavy riffs, and memorable solos , such as “Crazy Train” and “Paranoid.” Here are the top 5 most-played tabs in the week since July 22:
Top-5 most-played Ozzy Osbourne tabs on Ultimate Guitar
- Mama I’m Coming Home — 298,051 views
- Crazy Train — 170,533 views
- Dreamer — 52,926 views
- No more tears — 44,861 views
- Mr Crowley — 40,339 views
Top-5 most-played Black Sabbath tabs on Ultimate Guitar
- Paranoid — 102,383 views
- Changes — 90,381 views
- War Pigs — 63,890 views
- Iron Man — 53,413 views
- Nib — 18,004 views
Total views of Ozzy Osbourne’s and Black Sabbath‘s scores also jumped about 8 times during that week — this shows that fans not only revisited his guitar riffs, they also turned to the piano and full arrangements, connecting with the depth of Ozzy’s songs through sheet music. According to MuseScore data, the top songs were more melodic and emotional tracks that are easy to adapt for piano, such as “Changes.” The fastest-growing pieces were “Mr. Crowley” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.” Overall, since July 22, Ozzy’s songs have received over 1 million views across tabs and scores.
Top-5 most-viewed Ozzy Osbourne scores on MuseScore
- Crazy Train — 11,067 views
- Mama I’m Coming Home — 5,089 views
- Mr Crowley — 3,915 views
- No more tears — 521 views
- Ordinary Man (feat. Elton John) — 495 views
Top-5 most-viewed Black Sabbath scores on MuseScore
- Changes — 5,481 views
- Paranoid — 4,516 views
- Iron Man — 2,775 views
- War Pigs — 2,234 views
- Sabbath bloody sabbath — 415 views
Data note:
Data was collected from Ultimate Guitar and MuseScore between July 22, 2025, and July 29, 2025. Rankings are based on total views and “Add to Favorites” activity across all versions of tabs and scores for each song.
