Last week, Black Sabbath announced their final show. The concert is set to take place at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham, and the band will consist of its classic lineup — singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — however, the Prince of Darkness will only be playing "little bits and pieces" with his former bandmates.
"I'm not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath, but I am doing little bits and pieces with them," he recently revealed on his radio show. "I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable."
Ozzy's deteriorating health has hindered him from performing live in recent years. In 2023, he announced that his touring career was over and even admitted that he might need "accept" the fact he'll never play live again, but there was always talks of him doing one final show. Last year, those talks increasingly involved his former bandmates. Black Sabbath last played together in 2017, but that reunion didn't include Ward.
The concert is being billed as Back To The Beginning and is set to take place July 5. The all-day event will also feature sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, TOOL, and many other rock and metal icons.
“It’s my time to go Back To The Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Ozzy said in a statement about the show. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love? Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”