Carrie Underwood’s Longtime Love for Rock Music
Even though she was raised in a small-town, faith-centered household, Carrie Underwood has always had a deep appreciation for rock music — especially the work of Ozzy Osbourne.
During a 2023 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Underwood performed two of her own songs, “Blown Away” and “She Don’t Know,” before surprising listeners with a powerful Ozzy cover.
For longtime fans, her rock roots aren’t exactly shocking. Underwood frequently works hard rock into her live shows, often covering Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.” She even took things a step further at Stagecoach 2023 by bringing out Axl Rose during her headlining set.
A Respectful Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Before the cover on Stern’s show, Howard expressed his enthusiasm, telling her how much he loved Ozzy’s music. Underwood responded by explaining how discovering Ozzy as a teenager helped shape her musical identity — even if her mom wasn’t thrilled about it at the time.
She shared that while Ozzy’s image often leans dark, his music contains far more depth than people expect.
“There are love songs and melodies that are really sweet,” she said, noting that his sound is instantly recognizable and timeless, even without modern studio technology.
Underwood also explained that she makes a point of contacting original artists before covering their songs in concert. For this performance, she said her team reached out to the Osbourne family directly.
“We wanted to be respectful,” she said. “And Sharon was incredibly kind about it.”
Sharon — Ozzy’s wife of more than four decades — remained by his side until his passing on July 22, 2025.
Underwood closed the segment with a moving rendition of Mama, I’m Coming Home, the 1991 ballad Ozzy wrote for Sharon. The performance fit her voice perfectly, impressing Stern so much that he asked her and her band to repeat the harmonies once more.
It was a powerful reminder that while Carrie Underwood is firmly rooted in country music, rock has always been part of her musical DNA.