Ozzy Osbourne has announced he’ll be coming back for his last-ever live performance this summer, as part of a history-making “Back to the Beginning” show that will see him reunite with his original Black Sabbath bandmates – and share the bill with some of the biggest names in rock and metal.
The event comes after plans for a final Black Sabbath show had been mooted last May, when Geezer Butler confirmed he and Osbourne were both up for a blockbuster curtain-closer.
However, after Osbourne’s retirement in February 2023 and the cancellation of all his remaining live shows, the prospect of a Black Sabbath finale looked unlikely.
Now, though, one last show is indeed set to take place at Villa Park, Birmingham, on July 5, and it will see Osbourne reunite with his OG Black Sabbath bandmates – Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward – for their first gig in 20 years.
Not only that, they’ll be sharing the bill with a bevy of elite heavy metal and rock acts. It’s easily going to be the metal event of the year, but in all honesty, it looks like it is shaping up to be the metal event of the entire decade, too.
As per a press release, Osbourne will play his own short set before joining Black Sabbath for his final bow.
The all-star event will also feature appearances from (brace yourself): Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.
Additional performances come via Billy Corgan, Jake E. Lee, Duff McKagan, David Draiman, Lzzy Hale and Jonathan Davis, as well as Mike Bordin, Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Slash, II from Sleep Token, Tom Morello, Wolfgang Van Halen and more.
It is, simply put, one of the biggest guitar and metal lineups we’ve ever seen, and as Morello himself puts it, “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.”
“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne says. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
Even more names are set to be announced for the all-day event in the run-up to the show. Tickets are set to go on sale Friday 14 February, and all profits from the show will be shared equally between Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Visit Live Nation for tickets.
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