His wife Sharon said earlier on the red carpet: "I'm so proud. It's his night. I just want him to have the best time."
Neil was similarly gracious about collaborating with Slash: "I'm playing a song with one of my heroes, so I'm pinching myself every 10 seconds to make sure it's not a dream.
"The thing about icons like Slash is that they put you at ease very quickly. He's a legend."
Mercury-nominated rock duo Royal Blood said 2014 had been a "dream come true" as they prepared to perform their hit Figure it Out.
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher said: "We have got to meet pretty much all of our influences and play with half of them, so we are nothing less than grateful for how fortuitous we've been."
David Hasselhoff, dressed in a kilt, presented the Best Female award to Grande, who also picked up Best Song for her hit Problem, which features Iggy Azalea. Grande beat Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and host Minaj to the Best Female accolade, while Pharrell's track Happy, which is the UK's most downloaded song of all time, was also nominated for Best Song.
British boyband One Direction won the most awards of the night, despite the fact they weren't able to collect them in person. They accepted the prizes for Best Pop, Best Live and Biggest Fans via a video link.
The winners in full:
Best Song: Ariana Grande Problem ft Iggy Azalea
Best Pop: One Direction
Best Female: Ariana Grande
Best Male: Justin Bieber
Best Live: One Direction
Best New: 5 Seconds of Summer
Best Video: Katy Perry Dark Horse ft Juicy J
Best Rock: Linkin Park
Best Alternative: Thirty Seconds To Mars
Best Hip Hop: Nicki Minaj
Best Electronic: Calvin Harris
Biggest Fans: One Direction
Best Look: Katy Perry
Best PUSH: 5 Seconds of Summer
Best World Stage: Enrique Iglesias
Worldwide Act: Bibi Zhou
Global Icon: Ozzy Osbourne
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11220234/Ozzy-Osbourne-deemed-Global-Icon-at-MTV-EMA-awards.html
