Kelly Osbourne and a Family-Shaped Moment: Why Robbie Williams Will Close the Brit Awards Tribute to Ozzy in Manchester

The timing of this tribute matters: Ozzy Osbourne's death last July — just weeks after his farewell concert — has set a family-led, archival tone for a Lifetime Achievement honour that lands at the Brit Awards in Manchester. Sharon Osbourne has curated a closing arrangement of No More Tears fronted by Robbie Williams, and the family connection reaches back to when kelly osbourne joined her parents on a past Brit stage.

Kelly Osbourne and the family angle that frames the tribute

Sharon Osbourne’s role in shaping the closing performance makes this more than a standard awards moment. Ozzy previously hosted the Brit Awards in 2008 alongside Sharon and their two children, kelly osbourne and Jack, and the family presence is explicit in the plan for a Sharon-curated arrangement to close the show. What’s easy to miss is how that continuity — from a past hosting appearance to a present-day, family-led tribute — gives the moment a custodial feel rather than a purely commercial one.

How the tribute will be staged

Robbie Williams will lead the tribute and front a special arrangement of No More Tears that is set to close the ceremony. Sharon Osbourne curated that arrangement and personally invited Williams, who is described in the coverage as a long-standing fan of the music and a friend of the family. Williams, a Stoke-on-Trent born artist, recently collaborated with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi on the single Rocket and has performed sections of Paranoid at a live performance in the past.

Who joins the supergroup and the recent signals from other ceremonies

The Brit-stage ensemble will include musicians who played in Ozzy’s bands over the years: keyboardist Adam Wakeman, bassist Robert Trujillo, drummer Tommy Clufetos and guitarist Zakk Wylde. The move follows high-profile tributes at the US Grammys, where Post Malone, Slash, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith and Andrew Watt joined to perform a cover of War Pigs — a reminder that peers and collaborators have already signalled a broad industry response to Osbourne’s passing.

Ozzy’s catalogue, accolades and the band history that underpins the award

Osbourne’s recorded output and honours are extensive: more than 100 million worldwide album sales across five decades; 19 studio albums and eight live albums with Black Sabbath; and another 13 studio albums as a solo artist. Industry recognition includes five Grammy awards, induction into both the UK Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (both with Black Sabbath and later as a solo artist in separate years), and the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement with Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath, formed in 1968, are credited in the context with pioneering and popularising the heavy metal genre. Outside music, Osbourne reached a new audience through the reality TV series that starred him alongside Sharon and their two youngest children.

Ceremony logistics, performers and awards on the night

The Brit Awards will take place on Saturday at Manchester’s Co-op Live and will be hosted by Jack Whitehall. It is the first time in the event’s history that the ceremony will be held outside London. Performers scheduled for the night include EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami (the singing voices of HUNTR/X from KPop Demon Hunters), Alex Warren, Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, Mark Ronson, Raye, Rosalía, Sombr and Wolf Alice. Jacob Alon has been announced as the winner of this year’s Critics' Choice award, Noel Gallagher will be presented with Brits Songwriter of the Year, and PinkPantheress will be honoured with the Brits Producer of the Year award.

Here’s the part that matters: the combination of family curation, long-time band members onstage and a mainstream pop figure like Robbie Williams closing the show makes this tribute as much about legacy stewardship as it is about spectacle. The real question now is how the closing performance will be received and whether it reframes public attention around Ozzy's recorded catalog and commemorations already staged elsewhere.

• Sharon’s curation signals a family-led approach to the celebration and curation of Ozzy’s legacy.
• Having Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo, Tommy Clufetos and Zakk Wylde onstage connects the tribute directly to musicians who toured and recorded with him.
• The move to Manchester — the first time the ceremony will be held outside London — creates a different backdrop and local context for the Lifetime Achievement presentation.
• Prior tributes at major ceremonies show an industry-wide response that complements the Brit Awards moment.
• A well-staged closing performance led by Robbie Williams is positioned to shape immediate public conversation about the posthumous honour.

Writer’s aside: What’s easy to overlook is that this tribute is as much about personnel and provenance — who is invited onstage and who curated the arrangement — as it is about the song choice itself. That detail often determines whether a moment feels definitive.

Note on specific past details that set the scene: Ozzy died aged 76 last July, just over two weeks after his Back To The Beginning farewell concert where he reunited with his bandmates. He passed away on 22 July from a reported heart attack, following a period of significant health challenges that included multiple surgeries after a fall in February 2019 and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.