Black Sabbath is preparing for their highly anticipated farewell show, which takes place this Saturday, July 5th, at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Titled Back To The Beginning , the final show of the greatest heavy metal band will reunite the four original members of the band – vocalist Ozzy Osbourne , bassist Geezer Butler , guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward – to play for the first and last time in 20 years.
In addition to the band, the festival lineup features rock and metal giants such as Metallica , Guns N' Roses , Tool , Slayer , Alice In Chains , Pantera , Gojira , Halestorm , Lamb of God , Anthrax , Mastodon , Rival Sons , as well as other bands already confirmed.
Despite the large number of artists at the festival, we felt the absence of some acts that would have made a lot of sense for this celebration. Wikimetal listed some rock and metal names that should have been at Back To The Beginning .
Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
Judas Priest is one of the only veteran metal bands that will not be performing at Black Sabbath's farewell show. In an interview with Metal Hammer , Rob Halford Scorpions ' 60th anniversary show , which will take place in Hanover on July 5th: "I had no idea what was going on!"
Deep Purple
Another fellow countryman of Black Sabbath who is absent and whom we miss is Deep Purple. Especially Ian Gillan, who sang on Black Sabbath's emblematic album *Born Again *. Ian never hid his dissatisfaction with the album, but it would be interesting to see him performing with his former bandmates again. Another Deep Purple member connected to the event is keyboardist Don Airey , who created the iconic introduction to Ozzy's track "Mr. Crowley".
Iron Maiden
Many missed the also British band Iron Maiden. A band of that caliber is missed at this gathering of icons. Bruce Dickinson recorded a cover of Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" for the 1994 tribute album * Nativity in Black* . But it's worth remembering that Dickinson is persona non grata due to his troubled relationship with Sharon Osbourne , which began with the famous incident at Ozzfest 2005. Sharon accused Bruce Dickinson of disrespect and envy of Ozzy , alleging that he made derogatory comments about the artist's relevance and the reality show "The Osbournes".
Paul McCartney
Ozzy Osbourne has always declared his love for the Beatles. During the new episode of the show Ozzy Speaks , the Prince of Darkness revealed that he would love to do a duet with Paul McCartney. A duet like that would definitely be a highlight of Ozzy's farewell show.
Megadeth
Another iconic heavy metal band missing from the lineup. Megadeth would make a lot of sense for this celebration, and they could sing Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." The cover was recorded for the tribute album Nativity in Black Hidden Treasures EP According to guitarist Marty Friedman [via Whiplash ], recording the cover was a challenge for Megadeth, as they found it difficult to choose a Black Sabbath song and almost gave up.
Max Cavalera
Sepultura also covered Black Sabbath for the tribute album Nativity in Black in 1994. The band recorded a version of "Symptom of the Universe". Furthermore, Max Cavalera has a long history with Ozzy Osbourne. In an interview with Metal Hammer , Max revealed that it was Ozzy Osbourne and his wife who encouraged him to continue with music after his departure from Sepultura in 1996, which led him into a depression that lasted for six months.
Vinny Appice
Vinny Appice was the drummer for Black Sabbath during the DIO era, playing on the albums Mob Rules (1981), Live Evil (1982), and Dehumanizer (1992). In a recent interview with Meltdown Black Sabbath drummer revealed that the band did not invite him to play at their farewell show.
Glenn Hughes and Eric Singer
Drummer Eric Singer , as well as vocalist Glenn Hughes, were both in Black Sabbath – although Glenn has stated that he didn't want to be part of the band . The two recorded the album *Seventh Star * in 1986 and toured with the band to promote it. For nostalgic fans, it would be interesting to see Eric Singer and Glenn Hughes participate at some point in the show to play songs from that album; after all, in a farewell show, the ideal would be to revisit the band's entire history – even if it's a period outside the typical Black Sabbath sound.
Brad Wilk
For those who don't know, Brad Wilk , drummer for Rage Against the Machine , played drums on Black Sabbath's 13 Bill Ward , who was replaced by Brad Wilk ( Rage Against The Machine ) on the album recording, and by Tommy Clufetos on the band's farewell tour. Alongside his bandmate Tom Morello , Brad Wilk would be a great addition to the event, to play some tracks on drums – perhaps “God Is Dead?”.
Tony Martin
If we were to revisit the entire history and career of Black Sabbath, then Tony Martin should be invited. Tony is the second longest-serving vocalist in the band, after Ozzy Osbourne, having recorded five studio albums with them: The Eternal Idol ( 1987), Headless Cross (1989), Tyr (1990), Cross Purposes (1994), and Forbidden (1995). Tony has a vast repertoire to choose from when selecting which songs to perform.
READ ALSO: Black Sabbath: See the first photo of the original lineup since the band's end in 2011
