Health concerns regarding the mobility of heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne have been at the forefront of the discussion surrounding the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inducted musician’s upcoming live sendoff. The 76-year-old ‘Prince Of Darkness’ served as a pioneer for the genre alongside his bandmates in the legendary Black Sabbath, while also blazing a path with his acclaimed multi-platinum solo career.
However, a 2019 fall during a late night trip to the bathroom dislodged several steel rods that were previously surgically inserted into him. Those rods were implemented back in 2003, after Osbourne was involved in a serious ATV accident.
The resulting surgeries in light of that 2019 fall came with complications in the form of nerve damage and more that began to affect his balance and mobility. Recent years have found those issues compounded by Osbourne‘s decades-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
In light of his health woes, Osbourne announced his retirement from full-scale touring back in early 2023. While he has since made it to the stage a handful of times since his fateful 2019 tumble, those performances have been abbreviated and have found him aided with a brace to ensure he was able to keep upright.
Several months after abstaining from performing at his October 2024 solo induction into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Osbourne bluntly stated that he could no longer walk unassisted. However, his bandmates have insisted that despite the challenges he faces, Osbourne remains in full control of his vocal abilities. His longtime bandmate, guitarist Zakk Wylde also revealed that Osbourne intends to play this upcoming final show while seated from a throne.
That final live extravaganza for Osbourne, ‘Back To The Beginning‘, will also serve as a one-off reunion and farewell show for the original classic era lineup of Black Sabbath. It is scheduled to take place July 05th at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK and will feature a star-studded list of bands and musicians paying tribute to the celebrated works of Sabbath and Ozzy.
However, concerns regarding Osbourne‘s ability to perform were amplified last week when Tool, etc. vocalist Maynard James Keenan voiced his trepidation regarding the upcoming show. As one of the performers booked to perform at that live swan song for the metal stars, and one of the handful who also performed at Ozzy‘s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last fall, Keenan didn’t mince words. Speaking of his experience at the aforementioned induction ceremony, Keenan relayed:
“…I think for me, seeing Ozzy moving around at that event, the idea of him playing a show at all, if we’re being honest, you know, the conversation about going to do the song was like, ‘we’ll have this conversation, but, ahh… I don’t know that this gonna happen.’
And even now, I’m cautious about saying, ‘Yeah! All in, he’s gonna do it.’ Because man, I don’t know what kind of modern miracles we’ll come up with to get him on stage to do the songs, but this is gonna be a challenge for them. So, I’m honored to be a part of it, but I’m kinda preparing for the worst — but hoping for the best, as they say.”
Osbourne himself has since been taking action to deliver the best performance he can, revealing on his SiriusXM show last week that he has entered into a heavy training regimen to get back up to snuff for the show. Perhaps in a bid to temper fan expectations, Osbourne himself revealed this past February that he plans to do “little bits and pieces” of songs with Sabbath.
It would appear that approach will also extend to Osbourne‘s planned solo set at ‘Back To The Beginning‘ as well. Sammy Hagar is one of the scheduled performers at that event and revealed that Osbourne intends to front five of his own songs during the big show. Hagar recently told Loudwire Nights of that:
“I chose to do ‘No More Tears‘ and Tom[Morello] goes, ‘Oh, that would be great.’ And then he comes back and says, ‘Guess what? Ozzy‘s going to try and sing five songs and he wants to sing ‘No More Tears‘. I said, okay, ‘Flying High Again‘, and he goes, ‘You got it.’ So right now, I’m singing ‘Flying High Again‘. If Ozzy changes his mind, I’ll sing ‘Flying High Again‘ and ‘No More Tears‘.”
Morello, known for his work with Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and more, is serving as the ringleader of a collective jam session comprised of a who’s who of heavy metal stars. Together that collective will pay homage to the works of Osbourne and Sabbath with a series of covers.
Scheduled performers for the ‘Back To The Beginning‘ concert include:
Metallica
Guns N’ Roses
Slayer
Tool
Pantera
Gojira
Halestorm
Alice In Chains
Lamb Of God
Anthrax
Mastodon
Rival Sons
Participants scheduled for the all-star jam tribute include:
Andrew Watt
Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)
Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Danny Carey (Tool)
David Draiman (Disturbed)
David Ellefson (ex-Megadeth)
Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses)
Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)
Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
Jake E. Lee (Red Dragon Cartel, ex-Ozzy Osbourne)
Jonathan Davis (Korn)
KK Downing (KK’s Priest, ex-Judas Priest)
Mike Bordin (Faith No More/Ozzy Osbourne)
Papa V Perpetua (Ghost)
Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, etc.)
Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen)
Slash (Guns N’ Roses)
II (Sleep Token)
Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe)
Wolfgang Van Halen (Mammoth WVH, ex-Van Halen)
