Lita Ford performs “Close My Eyes Forever” the day after Ozzy Osbourne’s death

Lita Ford, the trailblazing guitarist known for her work with The Runaways and her solo career, took to the stage on July 23, 2025, at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton to deliver a haunting and deeply emotional tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne. The performance came just one day after Ozzy’s passing, and it was a moment that left fans visibly shaken.

The song she chose, “Close My Eyes Forever,” wasn’t just any track—it was the power ballad she co-wrote and performed with Ozzy in 1989, and it became both of their biggest solo hits. As Lita began to play, the room fell silent. Without flashy lights or any elaborate production, the moment belonged entirely to the memory of Ozzy and the timeless bond the two musicians shared.

During the performance, Lita invited the audience to raise their phone lights, transforming the venue into a gentle sea of flickering white—a candlelight vigil in motion. With every lyric, her voice cracked not just with age, but with raw remembrance. She did not cry. She did not falter. But the weight of what the song meant now, in the wake of Ozzy’s death, was unmistakable.

Earlier that day, Lita had appeared on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation and shared the story of how Ozzy Osbourne had changed her life. She recalled being 13 years old at her first Black Sabbath show and knowing, from that moment on, that she wanted to play rock and roll. That journey would eventually lead her to a chance meeting—and later, to recording a song with him that became the most defining duet of her career.

Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and other complications. His final appearance had been just weeks earlier at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert in Birmingham. In the days since his passing, tributes have poured in from across the music world—from Elton John and Paul Stanley to Metallica and Tool. But few have hit as close to the heart as Lita Ford’s quiet, unpublicized performance.

For Lita, the song is more than a hit from another era. It’s the closing of a circle. It’s a memory frozen in vinyl, now reawakened by grief. And in that moment onstage, the meaning of the lyrics—“If I close my eyes forever, will it all remain unchanged?”—carried a heavier, more sacred weight.

What began as a song born out of a night of whiskey and spontaneity has now become an unspoken eulogy. And in performing it, Lita Ford didn’t just honor Ozzy Osbourne. She reminded the world that behind the stage antics and dark eyeliner, Ozzy was someone’s friend, someone’s muse, and, in her case, someone who helped her find her voice.

This was no farewell concert. No media spectacle. Just a song, a woman, and the ghost of a legend who changed her life—and ours—forever.

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