A farewell charity event for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath has featured all-star acts including Metallica and Guns N’ Roses performing covers of the band’s biggest hits.
Dubbed Back to the Beginning, the show took place Saturday at Villa Park in Birmingham and was billed as Black Sabbath’s final performance. Proceeds from the event are going to Cure Parkinson’s — a disease Osbourne has battled since 2020 — as well as Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice.
Guns N’ Roses paid tribute with four Black Sabbath covers, opening with Technical Ecstasy’s “It’s Alright” before launching into “Never Say Die.” They also performed “Junior’s Eyes” and the title track from 1973’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
All four original Black Sabbath members: Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward, reunited for the event.
“It’s my time to go back to the beginning … time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne said in a statement earlier this year, describing the show as his “final” concert.
“How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham forever.”
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of metal, rock, indie, pop, and everything else in between.
A fitting farewell in his hometown, Osbourne was able to perform a limited four-song set with Black Sabbath. The feat comes after his own concerns over performing, saying complications from Parkinson’s and recent spinal surgeries would hold him back.
“I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath, but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable,” he said on his SiriusXM show.
Osbourne recently revealed that his condition has progressed to the point where he can no longer walk unassisted.
“I am trying to get back on my feet. When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things,” he told listeners this week.
The farewell also featured performances from Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, and more, with Tom Morello serving as musical director for the night.
