Ozzy Osbourne was overwhelmed with emotion as he played his last-ever gig tonight.
The Black Sabbath rocker, 76, took to the stage at Villa Park in Birmingham for the Back to the Beginning show, in which he delivered a short solo set before being joined by bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward.
It was an all-day event that also featured sets by a host of major metal bands, including Metallica, Slayer, and Alice in Chains.
But tonight’s gig was undeniably bittersweet, as while it marked the first time the group had played together in 20 years, it was also a farewell for Ozzy, who has made no secret of his health struggles in recent years.
The musician, who has been married to Sharon Osbourne since 1982, was welcomed out by a raucous reception after sets from a string of fellow rock bands.
Dressed in his famous all-black attire and wearing his signature eyeliner and nail polish, Ozzy, aka the Prince of Darkness, was seated on a leather throne, which had a bat on the top.
Giant beach balls emblazoned with his name flew across the sea of people as he performed, with Ozzy looking every inch in his element.
While he remained sitting down, he commanded the audience by clapping and waving his arms around, pulling his wide-eyed expressions he’s famous for.
‘Are you ready? Let the madness begin!’, he greeted fans with.
‘It’s so good to be on this stage. You have no idea,’ Ozzy added.
He proceeded to thank the crowd ‘from the bottom of [his] heart’, telling them after singing Suicide Solution: ‘You have no idea how I feel.’
As his brief solo set came to a close, Ozzy’s name was chanted wildly by the crowd, confetti blasting into the air.
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He ended his run of hits with Crazy Train, visibly emotional as he marked the milestone in his career.
It then wasn’t long before the stadium lit up red, and 57 years on from their formation, Sabbath entered, an air raid siren announcing their presence.
They opened their set with War Pigs before going into N.I.B. and Iron Man, later closing with Paranoid, Ozzy urging everyone to go ‘insane’ one last time.
Before leaving the stage, Ozzy said: ‘It’s the last song ever.
‘Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle…thank you from the bottom of our hearts.’
Plenty of music legends were in attendance tonight to witness history being made, including Queen’s Sir Brian May, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and Rolling Stones icon Ronnie Wood.
Also in the audience was Ozzy’s daughter Kelly, who wrote on her Instagram Story: ‘On our way back to the beginning!’
Meanwhile, those watching from home via social media videos also felt the emotion, with X user @EdMc_Cosh writing: ‘Black Sabbath, man. What a bunch of legends. I’ve seen about 30 seconds of footage, Ozzy looks like he’s being held up with strings, and it’s still magical. They deserved to go out like this.’
‘I really hope this creates a resurgence in traditional heavy metal’, declared @BabaKhanShreds. ‘Long live Black Sabbath and long live Heavy Metal’.
‘Black Sabbath blows everyone away, it’s just not possible that this is their final farewell’, added @will_tallica.
In 2020, Ozzy revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over several years.
The following year, Ozzy halted touring to have extensive surgery on his spine. He’s been facing mobility issues since a fall at home in 2019, which aggravated injuries from a near-fatal quad bike crash in 2003.
But, speaking ahead of tonight’s show, Ozzy made it clear that he would be showing up, no matter what.
‘I’ll be there, and I’ll do the best I can. So all I can do is turn up,’ he told the Guardian.
He also revealed that the reunion concert was conceived by his wife, Sharon, as ‘something to give [him] a reason to get up in the morning’.
‘I do weights, bike riding, I’ve got a guy living at my house who’s working with me. It’s tough—I’ve been laid up for such a long time,’ he explained.
‘I’ve been lying on my back doing nothing, and the first thing to go is your strength. It’s like starting all over again.
‘I’ve got a vocal coach coming round four days a week to keep my voice going.
‘I have problems walking. I also get blood pressure issues from blood clots on my legs.
‘I’m used to doing two hours on stage, jumping and running around.’
He added that he would likely be sitting down for the concert, unable to ‘do much jumping or running around this time’.
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