Soundgarden Just Revealed Why They Skipped Ozzy's Black Sabbath Farewell Show

Yahoo

15-07-2025

The former members of Soundgarden are explaining their absence from Back to the Beginning, the epic Black Sabbath farewell show fronted by Ozzy Osbourne on July 5.
In a post shared to Instagram on July 13, the grunge rock icons, who disbanded in 2018 following the death of founding member Chris Cornell, explained why they were not at the Back to the Beginning despite a previous teaser that the surviving members would reunite for the show at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
'We are very grateful to Tony, Ozzy, Geezer, and Bill, as well as Sharon Osbourne and music director, Tom Morello for the honor and invitation to Soundgarden to perform at the Back to the Beginning festival!' the Soundgarden musicians captioned a throwback photo that featured Osbourne and Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. 'We are super bummed and regret that we were unable to coordinate the schedules of our individual and collective projects to attend and contribute to the festival. The warmth, love and support from the Black Sabbath team has been a continuing source of encouragement and strength throughout our career.'
The message also included congratulations to Black Sabbath and a thank you for the inspiration they provided for 'scores of other bands, musicians and songwriters.'
In May, The Guardian reported that Sharon Osbourne confirmed that the surviving members of Soundgarden would appear on the Back to the Beginning bill that included Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, and many more.
But not everyone who was invited to perform made it to the show.
In an interview with Metal Hammer in June, Sharon Osbourne revealed she got into a dispute with one of the bands that had been previously announced for Back to the Beginning. 'I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath,' she told the outlet. 'And it was probably the worst way I've felt in years. … And he's now going around making up bulls--- lies because I threw his band off the bill.'
Weeks later, she elaborated, telling Billboard she was forced to remove the unanmed band from the lineup because they 'wanted to make a profit' from the charity event. 'And it's not the time to make a profit,' she said. 'After the show, I'll let everybody know who it was. I think people will be shocked.'
Soundgarden isn't the first band to address an absence from Back to the Beginning.
Originally announced guest Wolfgang Van Halen told Detroit's Meltdown on 101 WRIF that he had a scheduling conflict after initially agreeing to the performance in Birmingham, England. "I, unfortunately, had to back out because the Creed tour [with my Mammoth as support] starts the day after, and I [wouldn't] be able to pull it off — unfortunately,' Van Halen explained in late June.
On July 11, Motley Crue founding member Nikki Sixx told fans on X that his band would have liked to have been part of the rock festival but were 'having health issues within the band." Sixx also posted a congratulatory message the day after the show to note that Osbourne played a pivotal role in Motley Crue's success with the joint Shout at the Devil tour in 1984.Soundgarden Just Revealed Why They Skipped Ozzy's Black Sabbath Farewell Show first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 14, 2025