‘It’s my final encore’: Ozzy Osbourne will perform for the last time at Birmingham event

Saturday’s 10-hour event will reunite the original lineup of Black Sabbath and feature a variety of metal bands.

Ozzy Osbourne, the “prince of darkness” of heavy metal, is set to deliver his final concert this weekend, marking the end of his over 50-year career.

On Saturday, the original Black Sabbath lineup will reconvene for the first time in 20 years at Birmingham’s Villa Park, in what has been touted as the “greatest heavy metal show ever”.

The stadium, which houses Aston Villa FC, is just a short distance from Osbourne’s childhood terrace home in the district of Aston. The 76-year-old formed Black Sabbath with guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist and songwriter Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward after posting an advertisement at a record shop.

“It’s my final encore; it’s my chance to say thank you to my fans for always supporting me and being there for me,” Osbourne stated this week. “I could not have performed my final show anywhere else. I had to start from the beginning.”

Black Sabbath turned late-’60s rock into something darker, heavier, and more sinister. Their sound was defined by down-tuned, distorted guitar riffs, eerie vocals, and songs about war, madness, and the occult. The band’s self-titled debut album, released in 1970, is widely regarded as the birthplace of heavy metal, and they have sold an estimated 75 million albums worldwide.

“Sabbath gave us the blueprint; Sabbath gave us the recipe.” In the BBC Radio WM documentary Forging Metal, published on Friday, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor stated, “They gave us the cookbook, man.”

Osbourne became the living personification of rock excess during his tenure with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist (after quitting the band in 1979). Critics refer to him as the first wild rock star; he was unpredictable and unfiltered, with a career marked by drug-fueled mayhem, theatrical theatrics, and outlandish antics.

Osbourne performing during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

The hell-raising leader once chewed the heads off two doves at a record label conference, snorted a line of ants while on tour and mistook a real bat for a prop and bit its head off during a show. In 1982, he was arrested for public intoxication and peeing on a war memorial in Texas while wearing his wife’s clothes.

In the early 2000s, Osbourne and his family, including wife Sharon and daughters Kelly and Jack, rose to popularity with MTV’s groundbreaking reality TV show, The Osbournes. The show recorded their chaotic household and became a cultural sensation. Ozzy Osbourne was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist last year.

Since Ward’s departure from Black Sabbath during the 2005 Ozzfest tour, fans have been hoping for a reunion of the founding members.

Ward did not participate in Black Sabbath’s farewell tour, which ended in Birmingham in 2017, due to a contract conflict with Osbourne, resulting in a public confrontation.

Black Sabbath in the 1970s. ‘Sabbath gave us the blueprint, Sabbath gave us the recipe. They gave us the cookbook, man,’ said Slipknot’s Corey Taylor. Photograph: Chris Walter/WireImage

But the moment has finally arrived, and there was so high demand that tickets for Saturday’s 42,000-person event sold out in 16 minutes. The event, titled Back to the Beginning and hosted by Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, would begin with Osbourne’s solo set and end with Black Sabbath’s legendary tunes.

The concert will last more than 10 hours and will include performances by Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, and members of Guns N’ Roses and Rage Against the Machine. Profits will benefit three charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and the Birmingham-based Acorns Children’s Hospice.

It’s natural that the event takes place in Birmingham, a city that has long admired Black Sabbath. Birmingham Royal Ballet developed a Black Sabbath piece in 2023, following the group’s recent freedom of Birmingham accolade.

Osbourne has already proclaimed his retirement, but subsequent health concerns, such as a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 2020 and spinal surgery after an accident, suggest this will be his final performance.

“After six years, it’s time,” he told the Guardian. “I do not want to die in a hotel room anywhere. I hope to spend the rest of my life with my family.”