Sharon Osbourne has revealed how Black Sabbath’s original members agreed to come back for their upcoming reunion and farewell gig.
Talking to Birmingham Live, the wife and manager of singer Ozzy Osbourne says that The Prince Of Darkness led the effort to get himself, bassist Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward together onstage for one last hurrah.
The swansong show will take place at Birmingham’s Villa Park on July 5, and is set to mark both Sabbath and Ozzy’s last-ever concert. All proceeds from the event will go to the charities Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, Acorn Children’s Hospice and Cure Parkinson’s.
“I left that to Ozzy,” Sharon says of getting Sabbath back together. “He’s in constant contact with Tony and Geezer. And Bill, too. They talk all the time.
“Ozzy said, ‘I’m going to do my goodnight gig, my farewell, and would you come up and do Sabbath with me?’ He couldn’t do it on his own. And they all said yes. When they heard it was for charity, it was easy.”
In the same interview, Sharon also talks about the array of iconic metal bands set to support Ozzy and Sabbath. They include Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Gojira, Halestorm and Alice In Chains.
The day will also feature a “supergroup” including The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Slash and Duff Mckagan of Guns N’ Roses, plus more.
“I think it’s the best metal gig ever,” states Sharon. “It’s easy when you have such good friends and friends that support you. We’ve known these guys for years and years and many of them were passed the torch by Sabbath. It goes down the line. When you need them, they come.”
She adds: “For Ozzy, it's goodnight to his fans. The other guys in Sabbath will go on to their various projects but for Ozzy, it’s definitely farewell. Our friends want to come, and they know it’s for charity, so it’s brilliant. It’s a win-win for everybody... But especially the fans.”
The build-up to a Sabbath comeback publicly started last year, when Ozzy said on his podcast The Madhouse Chronicles that the band’s career felt “unfinished” because Ward didn’t take part in their 2016–2017 farewell tour The End. Iommi, Butler and Ward all declared their interest in one last show together over the following weeks.
Tickets to the Sabbath farewell, promoted as Back To The Beginning, will go on general sale on February 14 at 10am UK time.
