Black Sabbath announce ‘The Final Show’ in Birmingham with Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and more
Black Sabbath have announced their final-ever live show, which will take place in Birmingham with support from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera and more. Find all the details below.
Set to take place on July 5, the event will see the band’s most iconic line-up – comprising frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – play live together for the first time in two decades. It will be held at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham.
The news of the final live show, dubbed ‘Back To The Beginning’, was announced today (February 5) at the home of Aston Villa by Iommi and Sharon Osbourne, the manager and wife of the iconic frontman.
“It’s my time to go Back To The Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Ozzy said in a new statement. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love? Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
As well as the metal pioneers appearing with the classic line-up, the event will also see numerous performances from other icons in the scene. This includes sets from thrash metal legends Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, as well as from other metal heavyweights like Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm and recent Grammy-winners Gojira.
Soloist and former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello will be appearing at the event too and serving as Music Director. In a new statement, he described the upcoming gig as set to be “the greatest heavy metal show ever”.
Others appearing at the all-day event include Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Anthrax’s Frank Bello, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Sammy Hagar, Papa V Perpetua of Ghost, Wolfgang Van Halen, Zakk Wylde, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Slash.
Lzzy Hale of Halestorm will also be in attendance, as will Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), KK Downing, Jake E Lee, Faith No More’s Mike Bordin and Rudy Sarzo.
Tickets go on sale next Friday (February 14) at 10am GMT, and all profits will go to charities Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice – a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa. Visit here for tickets.
Rumours about the possibility of a one-off reunion show from the metal veterans have been swirling in recent years. In 2024, for instance, Osbourne shared that he would “jump at the chance” to play a final Black Sabbath show with co-founding drummer Bill Ward, and Butler hinted that he and Osbourne had “agreed” to play one last gig.
Around that same time, Sharon said that Ozzy was planning “two more shows to say goodbye” before he fully retires.
The band played the final show of their last farewell tour back in 2017, wrapping up the stint at Birmingham’s arena. However, last May the singer said that he was somewhat disappointed that the last date they played didn’t include Bill Ward. The drummer had parted ways with the metal legends in 2012, due to what he claimed was an “unreasonable contract”.
Towards the end of last year, hopes for a comeback seemed to wane, as Iommi said that while he had expressed interest in performing with the band for one last show, he thought it would be unlikely to materialise.
On top of that, Ozzy addressed his declining health and shared that he might have to “accept the fact” that a live comeback would potentially not be possible due to issues such as his battle with Parkinson’s disease and recovery from multiple surgeries.
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
