The legendary Ozzy Osbourne has passed away at the age of 76 just two weeks after his farewell “Back to the Beginning” show in Birmingham, England. The Osbourne family announced the passing and in a statement said “he was with with his family and surrounded by love.”
Osbourne announced in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which ended his touring career. He has also had several back surgeries throughout the years stemming from an ATV accident in 2003, leading to little mobility the last few years and eventually being bound to a throne for his farewell show.
Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham
This show was the culmination of Ozzy’s career in Black Sabbath and his solo career. Metals biggest bands and icons “gathered in their masses” to provide an outstanding 16 act show coming from rock and metal icons the likes of Anthrax, Lamb of God, Alice In Chains, Tool, Gojira, Pantera, Slayer and many more.
The show even saw Metallica perform as an opener for the first time since 2005. The last time Metallica opened for someone besides this was all the way back in 1987 with Ozzy himself.
The show closed with a set from the Prince of Darkness himself followed by the reunion of Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Osbourne himself, the four original members of Black Sabbath.
Ozzy Osbourne has not taken the stage since New Years Eve of 2018. This has been mostly due to ongoing health complications, multiple surgeries, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The founder of heavy metal announced his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2020. He was famously supposed to play at the Power Trip festival in 2023 alongside AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Tool, Metallica, and Iron Maiden, but had to back out four months before the show due to ongoing health issues.
Osbourne was replaced by Judas Priest who then used the added exposure to announce their new album ‘Invincible Shield’, which was released in March of 2024.
All proceeds from this show have been donated equally between Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Cure Parkinson’s. Osbourne talked about how hard it has been for him since his diagnosis and how good it feels to be back on stage before the performance of ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ as he fought back tears, something he did several times throughout the night.
Alongside the iconic bands fans have come to know and love throughout the years, there were also two slots for what was dubbed as “Tom Morello’s All Stars”.
The first slot consisted of Lzzy Hale (Halestrom), II (Sleep Token), David Ellefson (formerly of Megadeth), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), and the forever legendary former guitarist for Ozzy Jake E. Lee.
With Jake on stage, it was fitting that the group played some songs from The Ultimate Sin album, bringing out the title track and ‘Shot In The Dark’. There was some controversy in the set however when Disturbed vocalist David Draiman was brought out for ‘Shot In The Dark’ and ‘Sweet Leaf’.
Draiman has not been hiding the fact that he is pro-Israel in both his sets and through his social media, going as far to post pictures of him signing bombs that were later dropped on Gaza.
Draiman was met with some very audible boos, even making a comment about it when handed his microphone. After Draiman concluded his two songs, he was replaced by Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) for a cover of ‘Believer’. However, the star of Morello’s All Stars Group A was YungBlud covering Black Sabbath’s ‘Changes’, which was easily one of the best performances of the entire event.
Super Group B saw some major surprises as Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood took the stage at 78 years old. He was joined by Travis Barker (Blink 182), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), KK Downing (Judas Priest), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost) and many others for an array of songs like ‘Bark At The Moon’, ‘Flying High Again’, ‘Snowblind’ as well as Judas Priest classic ‘Breaking The Law’.
Fans were treated to yet another surprise as Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler came out and commanded the stage with ‘Walk This Way’ and ‘Train Kept A Rollin” by Aerosmith and ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin. Aerosmith had cancelled their tour in August of 2024 due to Tyler’s health issues.
Besides the super groups, every opening act played at least one Ozzy or Black Sabbath cover. Some of the highlights were Halestorm with ‘Perry Mason’, Lamb of God with ‘Children of the Grave’, Anthrax with ‘Into The Void’, Pantera with their famous covers of ‘Planet Caravan’ and ‘Electric Funeral’, and Metallica bringing out arguably two of the deepest cuts played the whole night with ‘Hole in the Sky’ and ‘Johnny Blade’.
After Metallica, it was time for Osbourne to take the stage. Osbourne was lifted onto the stage in a throne custom built for him for this show. The throne even featured a bat at the top, alluding to when he famously biting the head off of a bat live on stage event.
Osbourne presented a solo set of ‘I Don’t Know’, ‘Mr. Crowley’, ‘Suicide Solution’, ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ and “Crazy Train’. Even while not being able to stand, despite several times where it looked like he was trying to, Ozzy commanded the stage like no one else ever could.
It was apparent that the Prince of Darkness was very emotional, but ecstatic to be back on stage once again. He was joined by drummer Tommy Clufetos, keyboardist Adam Wakeman, bassist Mike Inez, and of course, the legendary Zakk Wydle.
Even though Black Sabbath has not taken the stage together since February of 2017, the band never skipped a beat. Led by Tony Iommi’s ‘Hand Of Doom’ on guitar, the band’s 4 song set was one of the greatest sets in music history as fans and musicians from other bands said goodbye to their heroes and idols.
The band’s final set saw a set list of ‘War Pigs’, ‘N.I.B.’, ‘Iron man’, and ‘Paranoid’. This was also the first time the original drummer Bill Ward had played with the band’s original members since 2005. At the end of ‘Paranoid’, the confetti rained down, marking the end of heavy metal’s founding fathers era on the stage.
The “Back to the Beginning” show is without question the single greatest event in metal history. It has been an incredible journey, a 57 year career for the man that started the metal genre that started all the way back in 1969 with the release of the self-titled Black Sabbath album.
A career spanning nearly 6 decades, influencing generations of musicians and fans alike. While Ozzy may have asked for ‘No More Tears’, It was hard to find a dry eye, whether that be those watching in Birmingham or those watching from their living rooms.
Goodbye to a legend
While the world knew this would be Ozzy’s last performance on stage, we did not know he would be gone just weeks afterwards, making the emotional weight of the show heavier than it already was. Congratulations to Ozzy on a genre defining career. The Prince of Darkness will be remembered for many generations to come.
In loving memory of my uncle Thomas Gardiner: the world’s biggest Ozzy Osbourne fan.
