With their end once again at hand, Black Sabbath‘s classic lineup of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward have given their ‘final’ interview. That reflection on the genre-defining career of the heavy metal pioneers was conducted by Classic Rock and finds the group reflecting back on their earliest days, to the highs and the numerous fallouts and lineup changes that led to them to this last hurrah.
While Sabbath and Ozzy have both been known to renege on retirement and farewell shows over the years, both parties seem firm that this weekend’s upcoming ‘Back To The Beginning‘ show will indeed be the end. With all members of the band now inhabiting their mid-70s, one would be inclined to believe them.
Osbourne himself has has much-publicized health challenges that forced him off the road several years ago, Ward has his own struggles with feet-related neuropathy and Iommi publicly battled cancer roughly a decade ago. Speaking to the aforementioned publication this past March about what this upcoming show means to them and the finality of it, Osbourne himself relayed:
“‘Important’ isn’t the word I would use. This is my farewell show. I am very blessed to say my goodbyes with the help of so many amazing musicians and friends.”
Osbourne later went on to say:
“It’s very important, the original Sabbath will never be on stage together again. From the late sixties, we’re probably one of the only bands where the original members are still alive and speaking with one another.”
Butler added, “The whole point of this last show was to finish with the original four of us playing together, so I wouldn’t have contemplated it without Bill.”
Iommi explained that he wouldn’t have signed on for the show if not for the involvement of all four original members. Later in the chat, both Iommi and Butler both expressed their own misgivings of how the band’s 2013 farewell album “13” turned out.
The pair attributed their disappointment with some aspects of the album to the heavy-handed input of producer Rick Rubin (Slayer, Beastie Boys). Iommi, who admitted there have been attempts to get together for another Sabbath album since that effort, said of that:
“I’ve been approached about doing a Sabbath album. It could be good, but I don’t want to take the time of sitting down and writing stuff like last time and it goes willy-nilly.”
He then went on to say:
“I went to Los Angeles with three CDs full of ideas, but [Rubin] made us strip everything down that I’d put together. He wanted it to sound like the first album. But you can’t recreate that. Some of the stuff sounded better when we were working at my house – it sounded more… alive. But it’s what it was. And it’s a shame Bill didn’t play on it, but it was difficult.”
Butler had some issues of his own during the “13” sessions, offering:
“There are some good songs on there, such as ‘God Is Dead?‘, ‘Zeitgeist‘, ‘Damaged Soul‘ and ‘Dear Father‘. I was led to believe Ozzy would write all the lyrics, but Rick Rubin insisted I write them. So I changed around some lyrics and ideas of Ozzy’s, then wrote everything in a mad rush. I like Sabbath’s lyrics to mean something, but trying to think of thirteen subjects to write about the night before committing them to recording gave me headaches.”
As for the possibility of any future comeback shows after this final bow, Iommi made clear that this was it”
“No, we’re not [going to play another reunion show.] Like I say, I didn’t originally want to do this one, because I’d already closed the door on it, and I thought that was it.”
Butler went on to say:
“I’ll never say never, because I’ve said never too many times before, and look what happened. But I seriously think this is the actual end, unless someone digs us up or finds our DNA in the future and recreates us.”
The ‘Back To The Beginning‘ concert will be held at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK on July 05th and feature the final live performances from Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. A who’s who of talent will be paying homage to the group during the sold-out show, proceeds from which will go towards several charities. Among the other scheduled performers are:
Metallica
Guns N’ Roses
Slayer
Tool
Pantera
Gojira
Halestorm
Alice In Chains
Lamb Of God
Anthrax
Mastodon
Rival Sons
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello meanwhile has been entrusted with serving as the musical supervisor for a covers tribute set to the works of Sabbath and Ozzy, with a stacked roster of guests set to take part. Among those announced are:
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)
Soundgarden
Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
II (Sleep Token)
Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe)
The event will be livestreamed via backtothebeginning.com.
