"Mama, I'm Coming Home" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

by English heavy metal singer

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

from Osbourne's sixth studio album ''

No More Tears ''No More Tears'' is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Released on 17 September 1991, the album charted at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart and number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. ''No Mo ...

'', which first released on 17 November 1991. The song features Osbourne on vocals,

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...

on guitar,

Bob Daisley Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is a retired Australian bass guitarist. He has collaborated on several occasions with Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, backing vocals, co-production and songwriting. He has also worked wi ...

on bass, and

Randy Castillo Randolpho Francisco Castillo (December 18, 1950 – March 26, 2002) was an American musician. He was Ozzy Osbourne's drummer during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and later as drummer for Mötley Crüe, from 1999 to his death in 2002. Ea ...

on drums. Lyrics were written by

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

, and the song was produced by Tom Fletcher. Two music videos were also produced to accompany the song's release. 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 Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

, "

Close My Eyes Forever "Close My Eyes Forever" is a duet by Lita Ford with Ozzy Osbourne from Ford's 1988 album '' Lita''. It was later remixed and released as a single titled "Close My Eyes Forever (Remix)" in 1989, with the single only differing from the album version ...

", and his feature on the 2019

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

song "

Take What You Want "Take What You Want" is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone, featuring vocals from English singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and fellow American rapper and singer Travis Scott. The song was written by the artists, Billy Walsh, and pr ...

", both of which peaked at number 8. It also reached number 2 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

Background

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."

Music videos

Two 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 Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...

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 ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

's "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

", which was also directed by Bayer.

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

– bass *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Tom Fletcher – producer *

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

–

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

of music website ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' called the song "a very good hard rock ballad and one of his finest singles".

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Ozzy Osbourne songs 1992 singles Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Hard rock ballads Heavy metal ballads Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer Songs written by Lemmy Songs written by Zakk Wylde 1991 songs Epic Records singles British hard rock songs