After months of anticipation and speculation, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne rode off into the sunset today, July 05th. The founding fathers of heavy metal and their iconic frontman Ozzy closed out their respective live careers as part of an all-star show that found metal and hard rock royalty all paying their respects. Each performance was layered with originals and covers of tracks from the Sabbath and Osbourne catalog.
The event was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK and billed as ‘Back To The Beginning‘. It found the classic lineup of Sabbath returning to the stage for one last hurrah. Osbourne, who has been facing mounting health struggles in recent years, also took to the stage for his final planned live show, performing while seated on a bat-adorned throne not unlike the one he sat upon last fall during his Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame induction.
Abbreviated sets were performed by all artists, with some performers allotted as little as 15 minutes. Sets from Osbourne and Sabbath themselves were booked for 20 minutes and 30 minutes respectively. Outside of going out with a bang, a portion of the proceeds from this monumental event went towards Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Some surprise guests were involved. Actor/musician Jack Black, who inducted Osbourne into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame last fall, delivered a previously recorded cover Osbourne‘s “Mr. Crowley” via the big screens at the show.
A pre-recorded cover of Osbourne‘s changes by Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst was also aired, while YUNGBLUD hit the stage for a cover of “Changes” in an unbilled performance. The whole event was livestreamed via backtothebeginning.com, with hundreds of thousands tuning in from across the globe. While some audio problems and issues with the stream were reported, there was also some controversy to be found at today’s proceedings as well.
Disturbed vocalist David Draiman, who served as the vocalist for one of the supergroup collectives orchestrated by Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello, received a chilly reception — likely in response to his outspoken political beliefs. A pre-recorded message of support for Ozzy from controversial shock rocker Marilyn Manson that aired at the concert also drew the ire of some. Manson‘s ongoing musical comeback after dozens of allegations of sexual assault/misconduct, has proven to be controversial in the UK in particular.
Actor Jason Momoa served as the host for the big event, with the following performances having taken place.
Mastodon:
“Black Tongue”
“Blood And Thunder”
“Supernaut” (Black Sabbath cover) (feat. Tool‘s Danny Carey, Slipknot‘s Eloy Casagrande and Gojira‘s Mario Duplantier)
Rival Sons:
“Do Your Worst”
“Electric Funeral” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Secret”
Anthrax:
“Indians”
“Into The Void” (Black Sabbath cover)
Halestorm:
“Love Bites (So Do I)”
“Rain Your Blood On Me”
“Perry Mason (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
Lamb Of God:
“Laid To Rest”
“Redneck”
“Children Of The Grave” (Black Sabbath cover)
‘Supergroup A’:
“The Ultimate Sin” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Lzzy Hale, Jake E. Lee, David Ellefson, Adam Wakeman, Nuno Bettencourt & Mike Bordin)
“Shot In the Dark” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (David Draiman, Jake E. Lee, David Ellefson, Adam Wakeman, Nuno Bettencourt & Mike Bordin)
“Sweet Leaf” (Black Sabbath cover) (David Draiman, Scott Ian, David Ellefson, Adam Wakeman, Nuno Bettencourt & Mike Bordin)
“Believer” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Whitfield Crane, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, II and Adam Wakeman)
“Changes” (YUNGBLUD, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bellow, II and Adam Wakeman)
“Mr. Crowley” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Jack Black, Revel Ian, Roman Morello and more)
Alice In Chains (with Sean Kinney back on drums):
“Man In The Box”
“Would?”
“Fairies Wear Boots” (Black Sabbath cover)
Gojira:
“Standed”
“Silvera”
“Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)”
“Under The Sun” (Black Sabbath cover)
‘Drum-off’:
“Symptom Of The Universe” (Black Sabbath cover):
Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)
Danny Carey (Tool)
Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ozzy Osbourne)
Travis Barker (Blink-182)
Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, etc.)
Supergroup B:
“Breaking The Law” (Judas Priest cover) (Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, K.K. Downing, Rudy Sarzo & Danny Carey)
“Snowblind” (Black Sabbath cover) (Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, Adam Jones, K.K. Downing, Rudy Sarzo & Danny Carey)
“Flying High Again” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Vernon Reid, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo & Chad Smith)
“Rock Candy” (Montrose cover) (Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith & Tom Morello)
“Bark At The Moon” (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Papa V Perpetua, Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker)
“The Train Kept-A-Rollin’ (Aerosmith, etc. cover) (Steven Tyler, Ronnie Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo and Travis Barker)
“Walk This Way” / “Whole Lotta Love” (Aerosmith/Led Zeppelin cover) (Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo & Chad Smith)
Pantera:
“Cowboys From Hell”
“Walk”
“Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath cover)
“Electric Funeral” (Black Sabbath cover)
Tool:
“Forty Six & 2”
“Hand Of Doom” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Ænema”
Slayer:
“Disciple”
“War Ensemble”
“South Of Heaven” (feat. reprise of a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Wicked World“)
“Raining Blood”
“Angel Of Death”
Guns N’ Roses:
“It’s Alright” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Never Say Die” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Junior’s Eyes” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Welcome To The Jungle”
“Paradise City”
Metallica:
“Hole In The Sky” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Creeping Death”
“For Whom The Bell Tolls”
“Johnny Blade” (Black Sabbath cover)
“Battery”
“Master Of Puppets”
Ozzy Osbourne:
“I Don’t Know”
“Mr. Crowley”
“Suicide Solution”
“Mama, I’m Coming Home”
“Crazy Train”
With Zakk Wylde, Mike Inez, Adam Wakeman and Tommy Clufetos.
Black Sabbath:
“War Pigs”
“N.I.B.”
“Iron Man”
“Paranoid”
