Ozzy gifts $10k for Crazy Train cover

Ozzy Osbourne has given a kids’ community group a donation of $10,000 after seeing their cover of his classic track Crazy Train online.

The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are an after-school group comprising more than 60 children aged 7-14 and they previously recorded a Led Zeppelin medley featuring Kashmir, The Ocean and Immigrant Song.

But the Courier-Journal reports it was their cover of his 1980 track Crazy Train from his Blizzard Of Ozz album that caught Osbourne’s attention, and he sent them the donation with a note.

It read: “Myself, my whole family and my fans all loved your rendition of Crazy Train. Keep up the good work.”

The project is run by teacher Diane Downs, who previously told NPR: “I want them to feel like rock stars. I want them to realise, ‘Oh, this is why we work so hard in rehearsal.’

“I tell them that when you’re presenting something to the public, you don’t want it to be okay, you want it to be great. Hopefully they’re going to carry that over into their lives once they grow up too.”

Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates are expected to release their final album and tour next year.

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Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.