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Legendary Guitarist, 77, Shares Fears Ahead of Final Show
Legendary Guitarist, 77, Shares Fears Ahead of Final Show originally appeared on Parade.
They say you only get one chance to make a good first impression. For Tony Iommi, he's worried about making a good final impression.
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Iommi will wrap his illustrious career on July 5 when he and the rest of Black Sabbath—Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler—play Back To The Beginning. The landmark metal event, happening at Villa Park in Black Sabbath's hometown of Birmingham, will be the final time that these four share the stage, and that has Iommi feeling the pressure.
"This would be a big, monumental thing if it all comes good," he told Metal Week(per Metal Hammer), adding that he feels "excitement mixed with fear" in the lead-up to this farewell performance.
"The worrying thing for me is the unknown. We don't know what's going to happen," he explained. "Normally, when we'd tour, we'd rehearse and run through the thing for a while, and it's just us. But with this event, there are so many other moving parts."
Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in 2011Photo by Chelsea Lauren/WireImage
The "other parts" include a star-studded lineup featuring Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Mastodon, and a multitude of other bands paying tribute to the heavy metal pioneers.
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Additionally, fellow rockers such as Wolfgang Van Halen, Billy Corgan, K.K. Downing, Jonathan Davis, and Zakk Wylde will perform, with people forming supergroups throughout the event.
"You're used to Ozzy running around," said Iommi, but he certainly won't be doing that for this show." Osbourne, who will also perform a solo set before joining Black Sabbath, has publicly disclosed his struggles to walk due to Parkinson's disease. Iommi said he didn't know if his bandmate was "going to be standing or sitting on a throne or what" when he closes out the night.
Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne in 1970Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
The night will lower the curtain on Ozzy's solo career as well as Black Sabbath. And Iommi stressed that this is the band's finale.
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"It's absolutely the end," he said. "This show has come up because of the situation [Ozzy's health] and because it's a charity thing. But there's no way we could go out and do a tour. Everybody in the band is looking forward to doing it, though it's a nerve-wracking thing, as we'll be touching on some stuff that we haven't done for a long time."
Related: Sharon Osbourne Reveals She Booted a Band From Ozzy's Final Show
Legendary Guitarist, 77, Shares Fears Ahead of Final Show first appeared on Parade on Jun 10, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
