CAPTION: John Michael  aka OZZY OSBOURNE and Ahmir Khalib Thompson aka QUESTLOVE  jam out in pre-show rehearsals with Cat Stevens aka YUSUF ISLAM (off camera).

They were rehearsing for the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear event hosted by Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart in Washington D.C. on October 30, 2010. In this musical skit YUSUF (representing sanity with his song ‘Peace Train’) and OZZY (representing fear with his song ‘Crazy Train’) fight one another for stage time as Colbert and Stewart root for their artist to win the battle between sanity and fear.

Yusuf and Ozzy met for the first time in over 30 years and the camaraderie and respect they showed for one another was beautiful. At one point during rehearsals Ozzie turns to Yusuf and says, “My daughter Kelly wanted me to tell you that she loves all your music” and immediately turned back to his mike and shouts “ALL ABOARD” beginning his song “Crazy Train.”

Questlove and The Roots back both artists on stage in the musical showdown.  Questlove suggested that during the portion of the skit when Yusuf and Ozzy play at the same time (in a chaotic musical mash-up), that half of the band play with Ozzie and the other half play with Yusuf while Questlove keeps time on the drums for both artists.

Watch the Youtube clip of the actual performance here:  OZZY & YUSUF