Sharon Osbourne has claimed that a band was disinvited from the Black Sabbath farewell show.
The all-day event, titled Back to the Beginning, was held on Saturday 5 July at Villa Park in Birmingham and served as a final performance from Ozzy Osbourne and the other original members of the legendary heavy metal band.
Among the many acts taking part are Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Anthrax & Rival Sons, Andrew Watt, Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Dave Ellefson, and Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit).
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine fame is serving as musical director, while the event is being hosted by Hollywood actor Jason Momoa.
Speaking to Billboard ahead of the event, Sharon — who is married to Ozzy, has managed his solo career since it started in 1979, and has also handled Sabbath — spoke about one band who apparently lost out on the chance to take part.
She claimed that this was because the band “wanted to make a profit, and it’s not the time to make a profit”.
“After the show I’ll let everybody know who it was,” she added. “I think people will be shocked.”
All profits from the event are to be shared equally between three different charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Back to the Beginning has been billed as the final bow for Ozzy, considered to be the godfather of heavy metal, who has suffered from a number of health issues in recent years.
His previous attempt at a farewell tour had been due to resume in May 2020 before being shuttered by both his health problems and the Covid pandemic.
In recent years, he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s as well as undergoing several surgeries to try to correct an injury sustained in a 2003 quad-biking accident.
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“I’ve made a pledge,” he told The Independent in 2022. “I will do whatever is physically possible until the summer of next year. If by then I can’t, then I can’t, but I’ll have given it my best. I’m pretty confident.
“I will get back on stage if it f***ing kills me, because if I can’t do it then that’s what’s gonna happen anyway, I’m gonna f***ing die. I love to see them audiences.”
Tickets to Back to the Beginning sold out in around 16 minutes when they went on sale at 10am on Friday 14 February.
Meanwhile, a paid livestream of the event attracted close to half a million viewers before the event had reached its halfway point on Saturday afternoon.
