Liam Barrett
The original Black Sabbath line-up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward will reunite for the first time in 20 years for one final concert, headlining a one-off heavy metal festival in their hometown in aid of several local charities.
The “Back to the Beginning” festival will take place on July 5th at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. Tickets going on sale on February 14th and all proceeds from the event will go to the Cure Parkinson’s charity, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Acorn Children’s Hospice.
The Bands
Black Sabbath will be the main headline act for the festival, with Ozzy Osbourne providing a short solo set beforehand. This is also being billed as Osbourne’s last live performance, as he has suffered a number of health issues in recent years that have prevented him from touring. Other band’s that will be performing during the day include Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Anthrax and Mastadon.
The festival will also feature a performance by a supergroup consisting of various musicians from the world of rock and heavy metal, including Tom Morello, Billy Corgan, David Draiman, Slash, Lzzy Hale, Fred Durst and more. Morello will also serve as the event’s musical director.
The Latest of Several Reunions
Black Sabbath’s original line-up recorded eight albums between 1970 and 1979, before Osbourne was fired from the band. Over the following two decades, the band continued to record and tour through multiple personnel changes, with Iommi often the sole original member. During this time there were several one-off reunions of the classic line-up, including a performance at Live Aid in 1985 and a short set in 1992 to celebrate what was then intended to be Osbourne’s retirement from touring. In 1997, the original members reunited permanently, and went on to tour sporadically before going on hiatus in 2006.
In 2011, the band announced that they would begin recording a new album, their first since 1995, and the first with Osbourne since 1978. However, Ward soon left the project, citing an unfair contract, and the album and resulting tour were completed without him. In 2016, the three remaining original members embarked on a farewell tour, which ended in Birmingham in 2017. The band was confirmed to be finished as a touring entity, and has remained inactive since. However, in the years that followed, various members have expressed an interest in playing one final show with all four original members.
