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Ozzy Osbourne is set to reunite with his Black Sabbath bandmates for what will be his final performance – “the greatest heavy metal show ever”.
The announcement was made by the star’s wife Sharon Osbourne and bandmate Tony Iommi at Villa Park in Birmingham, which will host the gig on 5 July.
The Back To The Beginning show will be the heavy metal band’s first performance together in 20 years, with original stars Osbourne, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.
Black Sabbath in the 1970s. Pic: Shutterstock
It will also feature sets from acts including Metallica, Slayer, Alice In Chains and a “supergroup of musicians” including Duff McKagan and Slash (Guns ‘n’ Roses), Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine).
Osbourne, 76, who has faced health problems including Parkinson’s disease in recent years, will play his own short set before joining his bandmates “for his final bow”.
Profits will be shared between Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn’s Children’s Hospice, organisers said.
“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. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love.
“Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham forever.”
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Osbourne in 1978. Pic: Andrew Kent/Retna/Mediapunch/Shutterstock
In 2023, Osbourne told fans he was no longer “physically capable” of performing shows he had planned in Europe and the UK, saying he “never imagined” his touring days would “have ended this way”.
The singer had extensive spinal surgery after a fall at home in 2019 aggravated injuries he suffered in a near-fatal quad bike crash in 2003.
Despite his health problems, he has appeared at some one-off shows in recent years – including the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 and at half-time during an NFL game in California in the same year.
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968 and went on to become one of the most successful metal bands of all time, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide over the years.
Morello, who is also music director for the reunion show, said: “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.”
Other acts confirmed for the gig include Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.
More names will be announced shortly, organisers said.
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 14 February.
