California mourns its adopted Prince of Darkness with royal salute from across the pond.

By Mac Davis Fleetwood

On July 30, 2025, something extraordinary echoed through the normally regal atmosphere outside England’s Buckingham Palace. During the historic Changing of the Guard ceremony, the Band of the Coldstream Guards fired up a full-throttle, horn-heavy rendition of Black Sabbath’s timeless classic “Paranoid.”

The performance came in the wake of Ozzy Osbourne’s death on June 24, and it struck ap chord in the hearts of fans on both sides of the Atlantic — especially here in California, where Ozzy and his family spent decades as adopted Angelenos.

Sure, Ozzy was born in Birmingham, England on December 3, 1948, but for millions of fans, the Prince of Darkness became a full-fledged citizen of California cool — part Sunset Strip rocker, part domestic dad next door in the hills of Beverly.

Ozzy’s longtime Beverly Hills residence was more than a home; it was the epicenter of chaos, love, family, and cable-TV gold, as seen by millions on the MTV reality TV hit The Osbournes. Ozzy was L.A.: raw, loud, unpredictable, and full of heart.

A Royal Riff for Rock Royalty

The Buckingham Palace performance, captured in fan-shot video, features the British Army’s Coldstream Guards — one of the most elite military bands in the U.K. — delivering a surprisingly faithful (if orchestral) version of “Paranoid.” Brass horns blared Ozzy’s legendary melody, while woodwinds and percussion filled in the heavy groove.

The best part? They played the whole thing. Not a snippet, not a teaser — but the full, three-minute, headbanging classic. And though the crowd stayed out of frame, you can hear the eruption of applause at the end. Even in a land of strict protocol, Ozzy still found a way to raise hell.

It was a fitting tribute to a man who turned rebellion into religion — and who always had one boot in the mosh pit, the other in California dreaming.

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