The news we’ve all been waiting for, heavy metal institution Black Sabbath will reunite with the original line up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward for one final show on July 5th at Villa Park, Birmingham. They will take to the stage together for the first time in 20 years, and it will be Ozzy’s farewell performance, to boot. The all-star event will celebrate the true creators of heavy metal and will see Ozzy play his own short set before joining with Black Sabbath for his final bow.
“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning….time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Ozzy Osbourne said. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
Formed in 1968 and going on to become one of most successful metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath have sold over 75 million albums worldwide across their legendary career. Setting the blueprint for the many routes heavy metal took, Black Sabbath’s influence and importance is as vital today as it was in the early 1970s. If you don’t like Sabbath, you simply aren’t metal! The line up is sickeningly good, with sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Anthrax, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, and Mastodon making this an event that will probably cost an arm and a leg, but one you don’t want to miss on pain of death. The special guests list reads like a who’s who of rock icons from the past 30 years. Hard to believe it’s actually happening, but the tickets go on sale on February 14th.
All profits will be shared equally between Cancer Research, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
We called it. Metal event of the year!