Black Sabbath highly anticipated farewell show took place last Saturday, July 5th, at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Approximately 40,000 people attended the event, with 5.8 million people watching the show online.
Titled "Back To The Beginning ," the final show by the greatest heavy metal band reunited the four original members. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne , bassist Geezer Butler , guitarist Tony Iommi , and drummer Bill Ward played together for the first and last time in 20 years.
Now, many fans are wondering what path each member will take. Ozzy Osbourne stated that Black Sabbath will never be on stage again , however, Wikimetal has compiled the quartet's future plans.
Ozzy Osbourne
Despite facing health problems, including Parkinson's disease, and having difficulty walking, Ozzy plans to remain active in music, dedicating himself to recording new songs and side projects, as well as participating in events. However, his wife/manager Sharon assured in an interview with Metal Hammer that "Literally, after this, we go home and close the door."
She also said, “Everything Ozzy ever wanted to do, he’s done. Every place he ever wanted to go. He’s simply had an incredible life.” His next public appearance will be at Midlands Comic Con with Sharon, his daughter Kelly , and his son Jack . The family will be signing autographs and taking photos on both days of the event, which will take place at the National Exhibition Centre on July 12 and 13.
Geezer Butler
The bassist is the only one who hasn't faced serious health problems in recent years, proving this with his marvelous performance at the farewell show, showing himself healthy and playing with the same intensity, dedication, firmness, energy, and precision. However, Geezer Butler stated that he only plays for fun in his home studio, with no intention of releasing anything new, announcing his retirement from music. The legendary bassist claims he no longer has the disposition for long tours and new projects, after the failed attempt with the supergroup Deadland Ritual [via 102 FM ].
Tony Iommi
The legendary guitarist is working on a new solo album, with no release date yet. In an interview with SiriusXM , Tony said: “I was recording my own album until 'Back To The Beginning' came along, and then, of course, I had to stop and focus on the performance. But I'll continue in the coming weeks, trying to finish what I started with this album.” Tony Iommi is also working on remastering the Black Sabbath catalog, promising to re-release the album Born Again, the group's only album with vocalist Ian Gillan .
Recently, he participated in the single “Rocket” by British pop star Robbie Williams . Tony assured that he won't stop [via Blabbermouth ]: “I can't stop. I need to keep going. I like what I do. And it's great to be creative. I love creating music. That's what got me started and that's probably what will take me to the end. And there will be more of my own stuff. And I'm getting more involved. There's a lot more to come. So, I'm looking forward to it.”
Bill Ward
The drummer stated that performing with Black Sabbath gave him the chance to relive his glory days with the band, thanking his bandmates [via Ultimate Guitar ]. But Bill doesn't intend to stop. In a recent interview with LA Radio Sessions , the drummer talked about his plans to release new solo music in the coming months.
The album Bill is going to release already has a name, Beyond Aston , and currently has 26 tracks developed: “We’ve been in the studio. We’ve been living in the studio, that’s what we’ve been doing. And we have two albums that are almost ready. We’re going to release them and we’re finalizing them. We have to go back to the studio in about another week. And we have four days left to finish our final overdubs for the newest album that will be released. And we haven’t mixed it yet. But we will do that too.”
READ ALSO: Black Sabbath: Last show raised US$190 million for charity, says Tom Morello
