"Mama, I'm Coming Home" is a power ballad by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne from Osbourne's sixth studio album No More Tears, which first released on 17 November 1991. The song features Osbourne on vocals, Zakk Wylde on guitar, Bob Daisley on bass, and Randy Castillo on drums. Lyrics were written by Lemmy, and the song was produced by Tom Fletcher. Two music videos were also produced to accompany the song's release.
| "Mama, I'm Coming Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Ozzy Osbourne | ||||
| from the album No More Tears | ||||
| B-side | "Don't Blame Me" | |||
| Released | 18 November 1991 (UK)[1] February 1992 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:11 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Ozzy Osbourne singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Mama, I’m Coming Home" on YouTube | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
The single is Osbourne's only solo Top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 28; his only other top 40 hits being his duet with Lita Ford, "Close My Eyes Forever", and his feature on the 2019 Post Malone song "Take What You Want", both of which peaked at number 8.[5] It also reached number 2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks.
Background
editAs Zakk Wylde recalled in a 2022 interview, "I remember me and Ozzy originally did that on a piano in my apartment in North Hollywood...I transposed it to guitar when we got in the studio when we were working on the record, and then y'know it sounded great...the song started off with the pedal steel kind of thing. I mean it just sounded great...I mean everybody's performances and everything like that but I mean just the overall sound of it – the guys knocked it out of the park for sure."[6]
Music videos
editTwo music videos were created for the single. The first was a surreal video that Osbourne disliked because he felt the video's plot did not match the song's concept. A second music video was then created with Samuel Bayer as its director, which subsequently augmented Osbourne's interest. Osbourne compared the effects in the second video to the hazy smoke effect seen in the video for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which was also directed by Bayer.
Personnel
edit- Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
- Zakk Wylde – guitar
- Bob Daisley – bass
- Randy Castillo – drums
- Tom Fletcher – producer
- Lemmy Kilmister – lyrics
Reception
editStephen Thomas Erlewine of music website AllMusic called the song "a very good hard rock ballad and one of his finest singles".[3]
Charts
edit| Chart (1992–1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] | 42 |
| Germany (GfK)[8] | 27 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] | 48 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] | 62 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[11] | 32 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[12] | 28 |
| US Mainstream Rock[13] | 2 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[14] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 610. ISBN 9780862415419.
- ^ Tucker 2/13/2014, Dan. "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Heavy Metal's 13 Most Romantic Love Songs". VH1 News. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mama I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne - Mama I'm Coming Home". Discogs. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1 July 2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. p. 473. ISBN 978-0-8230-7499-0. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ Olivier (5 October 2022). "Zakk Wylde Recalls Writing the Ozzy Osbourne Song "Mama, I'm Coming Home"". SleazeRoxx.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I'm Coming Home" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I'm Coming Home" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I'm Coming Home". Top 40 Singles.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I'm Coming Home". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Ozzy Osbourne Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Canadian single certifications – Ozzy Osbourne – Mama, I'm Coming Home". Music Canada. Retrieved 14 December 2021.