Black Sabbath announced a farewell show with the band's original lineup.
Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne , guitarist Tony Iommi , bassist Geezer Butler , and drummer Bill Ward will take the stage together for the last time at a benefit festival.
The performance, titled Back to the Beginning, will take place on July 5th at Villa Park, a stadium in Birmingham, the English city where the group was formed in the late 1960s.
In addition to the Sabbath, the event will feature the following attractions:
- Ozzy Osbourne (solo)
- Metallica
- Slayer
- Panther
- Gojira
- Alice in Chains
- Halestorm
- Lamb of God
- Anthrax
- Mastodon
Additional guests:
- Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins)
- David Draiman (Disturbed)
- Duff McKagan
- Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)
- Lzzy Hale
- Jake E. Lee
- Jonathan Davis (Korn)
- KK Downing
- Mike Bordin (Faith No More)
- Papa V Perpetua (Ghost)
- Rudy Sarzo
- Sammy Hagar
- Slash
- Sleep Token II (Sleep Token)
- Tom Morello
- Wolfgang Van Halen
All profits from the event will be donated to Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Acorn Children's Hospice.
Tickets will go on sale starting February 14th on the official Live Nation UK website.
Ozzy brought up the reunion issue when asked if he was satisfied with the "Black Sabbath arc," to which he replied "definitely not," as original drummer Bill Ward was not present on the band's last work (recording the 2013 album 13 and the group's farewell tour).
Tony, the legendary British guitarist, gave his favorable opinion on his longtime friend's idea. He told Eddie Trunk on his show Trunk Nation on Sirius XM : “It would be a good idea, but people will comment: 'Oh, they're doing it for the money. They're doing it for this, they're doing it for that.' Well, it wouldn't be. I mean, if it happened, it would be a good thing to do. But we'll see. I mean, who knows?”
Geezer , the band's bassist, was the last to speak out in favor of a reunion. He also spoke with Eddie Trunk, who obviously posed the question to him. "Of course there's interest on my part, but there's a big 'but': you'd have to talk to Bill (Ward) about it," Butler said (via Blabbermouth ).
Ozzy and Geezer have been talking almost every day lately, according to the bassist himself. He said that Ozzy would like to do one last show at Aston Villa's stadium in Birmingham. "I'm definitely ready for it, to finish everything. Ozzy and I agree, but I'm not sure about anyone else."
Bill Ward's opinion on this matter is still unknown. The drummer has not yet commented on a final show with his former bandmates. It's worth remembering that there may still be some resentment regarding Black Sabbath's last reunion in 2013.
At the time, due to contractual disagreements, there was no agreement with the drummer, who was replaced by Brad Wilk ( Rage Against The Machine ) on the recording of the album 13 , and by Tommy Clufetos on the band's farewell tour.
When asked about his friend, and whether he thought Bill would have been able to participate in this final performance playing any music or in a new recording project, Geezer Butler replied: “I don’t think so. Maybe, I don’t know. I mean, the way things are technically these days, maybe a few songs, but who knows, there might not be any travel involved. We wouldn’t all be in the studio at the same time, maybe.”
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