“Not everybody gets invited to every party”: Megadeth bassist explains why they were the only Big Four thrash band not to play Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final concert
While Black Sabbath’s mighty farewell gig saw countless iconic acts taking to the stage, Back To The Beginning didn’t quite manage to secure the Big Four. Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax all made it down to Birmingham on 5 July, but Megadeth were nowhere to be seen.
While fans probably assumed Megadeth’s absence was down to a scheduling conflict – much like Wolfgang Van Halen, who was unfortunately unable to attend – bassist James LoMenzo has revealed the real reason the Big Four remained incomplete. “I’m going to let the cat out of the bag,” he tells Burrn! Magazine. “The truth of the matter is, I don’t believe that anybody asked us, which was fine.”
READ MORE: “They say never meet your idols, but that’s just not true. Sometimes you get lucky”: M. Shadows reflects on interviewing Ozzy Osbourne in 2017
While LoMenzo extends a rather gracious “not everybody gets invited to every party”, he also admits that Megadeth made every effort to get involved. “When we were in Europe last week, David [Mustaine] said that he was reaching out to everybody and telling them that we were in the neighbourhood,” he says. “We were close enough to come.”
“If they wanted us to, we could stay over for a few days and work it out,” he continues. “I don’t know what our manager had accomplished with that, but it didn’t get accomplished, so we just came home.”
Despite the thrash metal legends failing to attend Back To The Beginning, the show will undeniably go down in metal history. Not only did it see Ozzy Osbourne reuniting with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, it also saw the likes of Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Tool and so many other iconic acts. There were even a few curveballs – hell, even Yungblud showed up!
The show made nearly $200 million for charity, and will be immortalised in an upcoming documentary. Currently in production by Mercury Studios, the film will commemorate Back To The Beginning and is described as “a love letter to Ozzy and the pioneering sound of Black Sabbath”.
“The theatrical release will be a distilled version of the epic all-day event held at Villa Park,” it added [via Variety]. “Featuring thunderous performances of War Pigs, Iron Man, Children of the Grave and a show-stopping Paranoid, the film promises a deeply personal and electrifying farewell from the godfather of heavy metal with exclusive behind-the-scenes access and interviews from this iconic live performance.”
The film will also help immortalise Ozzy Osbourne, who sadly passed away on 22 July. News of Ozzy’s passing was shared by his family. “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” an Instagram post said. “He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
There is currently a petition doing the rounds to rename Birmingham International Airport to Ozzy Osbourne International in the Prince of Darkness’s memory.
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