Photo Credit: Black Sabbath in 1970 / Warner Bros. Records
Ozzy Osbourne is reuniting with his Black Sabbath bandmates for one last time to play a fundraising concert in BIrmingham this summer.
The heavy metal godfathers — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward — will headline a one-day event at Villa Park on July 5, featuring tons of groups they helped inspire, including Anthrax, Gojira, Metallica, Pantera, and Slayer. The show marks the first time that Black Sabbath’s original lineup will have played together in two decades.
“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” said Ozzy. “How blessed I am to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
Ozzy has largely been forced to stop performing due to a combination of health issues, but he will play a short solo set at the concert before joining his former bandmates. According to his wife Sharon Osbourne, this will definitely be the 76-year-old’s final concert.
“He’s doing great, he’s doing really great,” she told BBC News. “He’s so excited about this, about being with the guys again and all his friends. It’s exciting for everyone.”
“Ozzy didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to his friends, to his fans, and he feels there’s been no full stop,” she continued. “This is his full stop.”
Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello is serving as the event’s musical director, sharing that it would be “the greatest heavy metal show ever.” Proceeds from the event will support Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
Other groups on the bill include Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Lamb of God, and Mastodon, as well as a “supergroup” lineup of stars like Billy Corgan, Slash, Fred Durst, Wolfgang Van Halen, and Tom Morello.
“It’s an endless amount of people,” said Sharon. “They’re going to be doing some Sabbath songs, some Ozzy songs, and they’ll all mix together,” she explained. “Different little groups will be coming on, but they’re all icons.”
Black Sabbath was formed in Birmingham in 1968 and went on to become one of the most successful metal bands of all time. The group has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, and set the blueprint for the many versions of heavy metal that followed. Black Sabbath’s influence and importance continue to be as vital today as it was in the early 1970s.
Tickets for the Back to the Beginning show will go on sale at 10 AM GMT on Friday, February 14 via Live Nation.