Every Monumental Metal Moment At Ozzy Osbourne And Black Sabbath's Final Show

Forbes

6 days ago

The Villa Park crowd watch support acts, during British rock band Black Sabbath's "Back to The ... More Beginning" concert, Ozzy Osbourne's final ever gig as Black Sabbath's frontman at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on July 5, 2025. Osbourne, who revealed in 2020 that he has Parkinson's disease, will join Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the all-day "Back To The Beginning" show in Birmingham, central England, where the heavy metal giants formed in 1968. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne took their final bow at their massive hometown show, Back to the Beginning. Set in Villa Park (Birmingham, England), the one-day festival featured performances from bands Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Alice In Chains, Gojira, and Mastodon among others, and surprise guest performances including the likes of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and The Rolling Stone's Ronnie Wood. However, Back to the Beginning wasn't just a star-studded metal festival, it was a gathering for fans and musicians to honor the creators of the heavy metal genre, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Considering the scope and ambition of Back to the Beginning as a one day concert, there was plenty of room for things to go awry, especially with the show's livestream pay-per-view which was only announced last month. That being said, the show went incredibly smooth between performances and lightning fast changeovers between bands. The pre-production and planning going into this monumental day certainly wasn't wasted, and the pay-off was even better than fans could've hoped for. From the outpouring of love for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, to the heavy metal godfathers having a proper reunion and final bow, Back to the Beginning will be remembered as one of the most important moments for metal music in the genre's history.
Member of US rock band Anthrax, Scott Ian plays to the crowd as a support act, during British rock ... More band Black Sabbath's "Back to The Beginning" concert, Ozzy Osbourne's final ever gig as Black Sabbath's frontman at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on July 5, 2025. Osbourne, who revealed in 2020 that he has Parkinson's disease, will join Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the all-day "Back To The Beginning" show in Birmingham, central England, where the heavy metal giants formed in 1968. (Photo by Andy Buchanan / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne Tributes
With the sheer number of bands and supergroups billed at Back to the Beginning, most acts only had between 15 and 30 minute sets. Even with the short amount of time between performances and changeovers, each band managed to make the most out of the time they had been given; nearly every act played a few of their popular hits and covered either a Black Sabbath or Ozzy Osbourne tune.
The Sabbath and Ozzy covers are what made Back to the Beginning feel so special. Whether it was Metallica covering 'Hole In The Sky' or Gojira offering an even heavier rendition of 'Under The Sun,' it was consistently exciting to see who would cover what Sabbath or Ozzy song. Among all the bands that performed, these were all the Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne tributes performed at Back to the Beginning:
Mastodon – "Supernaut" (Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 1972)
Rival Sons – "Electric Funeral" (Black Sabbath Paranoid 1970)
Anthrax – "Into The Void" (Black Sabbath, Master of Reality 1971)
Halestorm – "Perry Manson" (Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzmosis 1995)
Lamb Of God – "Children Of The Grave" (Black Sabbath, Master of Reality 1971)
Alice In Chains – "Fairies Wear Boots" (Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath 1970)
Gojira – "Under The Sun" (Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 1972)
Pantera – "Planet Caravan" (Black Sabbath, Paranoid 1970)
Pantera – "Electric Funeral" (Black Sabbath, Paranoid 1970)
Tool – "Hand Of Doom" (Black Sabbath, Paranoid 1970)
Slayer – "Wicked World" (Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath 1970)
Guns N' Roses – 'It's Alright,' (Black Sabbath, Technical Ecstasy 1976) 'Never Say Die,' (Black Sabbath, Never Say Die! 1978) 'Junior's Eyes,' (Black Sabbath, Never Say Die! 1978) and 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' (Black Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 1973)
Metallica – 'Hole In The Sky' (Black Sabbath, Sabotage 1975) and 'Johnny Blade' (Black Sabbath, Never Say Die! 1978)
It's hard to say who pulled off the best tribute, but Gojira's cover of 'Under The Sun' felt like the perfect fit for them sonically among all the other great covers. Alternatively, Lamb of God's cover of 'Children of the Grave' was also incredible and possibly had the best crowd reaction. The band also managed to surprise release a studio of version of their cover shortly after their performance.
The Guest Appearance That Mattered Most
There were a myriad of iconic bands that performed at Back to the Beginning, however, some of the biggest moments at the show were from the many guest appearances, some of which were a complete surprise. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler jamming with The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, and Tom Morello might've been the craziest supergroup formed of the evening.
The group performing a rendition of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' into Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' was a twist no one saw coming. Furthermore, it's only been a year since Aerosmith canceled their farewell tour due to Steven Tyler's serious vocal injury, so seeing Tyler move and groove again like it's 1978 was possibly a once in a lifetime moment.
Ozzy Osbourne And Black Sabbath's Emotional Final Sets
Of course, the main purpose of Back to the Beginning was to see Ozzy Osbourne and the original four members of Black Sabbath take their final bow. Ozzy Osbourne performed a five song set while seated atop a gothic throne with his longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, which included Randy Rhoads' era hits 'I Don't Know," 'Mr. Crowley,' 'Suicide Solution," and of course 'Crazy Train.' However, prior to closing with 'Crazy Train," Ozzy performed 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' to a teary eyed stadium. Seeing the crowd sing along as one giant chorus to the final words of 'Mama, I'm Coming Home' was one of the most emotional moments of the night.
As climactic as Ozzy Osbourne's solo set was, hearing the sirens for "War Pigs" ring out as the four godfathers of heavy metal took to the stage was surreal. Iommi, Butler, Ward, and Osbourne hadn't been together on stage in over a decade, which of course warranted the revitalized energy heard throughout Villa Park. Performing a tight four song set, Black Sabbath covered every base that fans could've hoped for playing their masterful epic 'War Pigs,' into Geezer Butler's bass anthem 'N.I.B.' and closing of course with the band's biggest hits, "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Despite it being short, Sabbath's final set felt profoundly special, like a baton was being passed to the fans and the metal band's they've inspired.
However, the icing on the cake to all of this was seeing drummer Bill Ward finally get his moment with Ozzy, Iommi, and Butler. One of the main reasons that Back to the Beginning even happened was because Black Sabbath hadn't performed a proper final reunion show – the band's perviously marked 'final' performance in 2017 was without Ward, as was every Black Sabbath tour between 2012-2017.
Back to the Beginning was the final Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne show, and it was a proper tribute to the four musicians that started the heavy metal genre. Without Black Sabbath there would be no Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, or any metal music, and every band that performed at Back to the Beginning made a point to make that crystal clear.