“My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given”: What Ozzy Osbourne told Sharon which led to Black Sabbath’s final show becoming a reality
The hype surrounding Black Sabbath’s final show – Back to the Beginning – is unprecedented – but wholly justified.
The event, which takes place 5 July at Birmingham’s Villa Park, will see the final-ever performance from Sabbath’s original lineup (Ozzy Obsourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward), as well as support slots from heavyweights from the heavy metal pantheon, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Mastodon, Lamb of God and many more.
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Naturally, a show of this magnitude must have been in the works for some time: “nearly two years,” according to Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne.
Besides the logistics of putting together a lineup filled to the brim with metal A-listers, Sharon says much of the preparation has come in the form of physical training by Ozzy.
“He’s working with his team of people that are getting him up and moving around, working on his breathing, doing weights to build muscle,” she tells MOJO in its new print issue.
“Ozzy’s had five back surgeries in six years, it’s hugely debilitating. So this is not something he undertook lightly. But he kept saying, ‘My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given.’ And I thought, well why don’t we just do one big show and you can thank everybody?
“So we’ve been working on it for nearly two years. You know, Birmingham has given Ozzy so much, he’s so proud of where he was born. He’s working his little old arse off to get there.”
Sharon’s comments echo those made by Andrew Watt – producer of Ozzy’s albums Ordinary Man (2020) and Patient Number 9 (2022) in February – when he revealed the Prince of Darkness has been hitting the gym in preparation for the final show dubbing him the “real-life Iron Man”
Due to Ozzy Obsourne’s series of health problems – which include Parkinson’s disease and spinal issues – it’s been revealed that he’s “not planning on doing a set” at the Back to the Beginning show, but will rather do “little bits and pieces”.
As you might expect, tickets for the show sold out very quickly – some reports claim in as little as 16 minutes – but the Sabbath camp recently announced the event will be livestreamed via pay-per-view, priced at £24.99. Fans who purchase will be able to rewatch the entire event for 48 hours after it finishes.
Learn more at backtothebeginning.com.
The post “My one regret is I can’t say goodbye and thank you for the life I’ve been given”: What Ozzy Osbourne told Sharon which led to Black Sabbath’s final show becoming a reality appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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