Black Sabbath Announces ‘Final’ Concert, ‘Back to the Beginning,’ With Metallica, Slayer and More

Jem Aswad

5 February 2025 at 10:14 am·2-min read

Black Sabbath has announced what is being billed as the “final” show by its original lineup — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — a benefit titled ‘Back to the Beginning’ in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England, taking place on July 5 at the city’s Villa Park.

Also performing at “Back to the Beginning” will be Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Mastodon and a supergroup featuring Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Wolfgang Van Halen and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who will also act as musical director of the concert.

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All profits from the show will be shared equally between Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.

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It will mark the first time the original lineup has performed together in 20 years. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, who has suffered a number of ailments that have caused him to cancel shows in recent years, will play his own short set before joining with Black Sabbath for his final bow. While he and the band have announced their retirement or final show several times in the past — Osbourne first “retired” in the early 1990s — his condition and the group’s age (all are 75 or 76 years old) would seem to make this the actual finale.

“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning… time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne said in the announcement. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”

Morello added, “It will be the greatest heavy metal concert ever.”

Formed in Birmingham in 1968, Sabbath are universally regarded as the godfathers of heavy metal and have sold more than 75 million albums worldwide across their career. Yet their influence far exceed even those record sales — nearly every hard rock band since the 1970s bears their mark.

All profits will go to the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.

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