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.
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 bandâs most iconic line-up â comprising frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward â 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 âBack To The Beginningâ, was announced today (February 5) at the home of Aston Villa by Iommi and Sharon Osbourne, the manager and wife of the iconic frontman.
âItâs my time to go Back To The Beginning⊠time for me to give back to the place where I was born,â Ozzy said in a new statement. âHow blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love? Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.â
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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.
Black Sabbath âBack To The Beginningâ poster. CREDIT: Press
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 âthe greatest heavy metal show everâ.
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Others appearing at the all-day event include Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Disturbedâs David Draiman, Guns Nâ Rosesâ Duff McKagan, Anthraxâs Frank Bello, Limp Bizkitâs Fred Durst, Sammy Hagar, Papa V Perpetua of Ghost, Wolfgang Van Halen, Zakk Wylde, Kornâs Jonathan Davis, Anthraxâs 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 Moreâs Mike Bordin and Rudy Sarzo.
Tickets go on sale next Friday (February 14) at 10am GMT, and all profits will go to charities Cure Parkinsonâs, Birmingham Childrenâs Hospital and Acorn Childrenâs Hospice â a Childrenâs Hospice supported by Aston Villa. Visit here for tickets.
Black Sabbath in 1977. Credit: Birmingham Post and Mail Archive/Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesAdvertisement
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 âjump at the chanceâ to play a final Black Sabbath show with co-founding drummer Bill Ward, and Butler hinted that he and Osbourne had âagreedâ to play one last gig.
Around that same time, Sharon said that Ozzy was planning âtwo more shows to say goodbyeâ before he fully retires.
The band played the final show of their last farewell tour back in 2017, wrapping up the stint at Birminghamâs arena. However, last May the singer said that he was somewhat disappointed that the last date they played didnât include Bill Ward. The drummer had parted ways with the metal legends in 2012, due to what he claimed was an âunreasonable contractâ.
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 âaccept the factâ that a live comeback would potentially not be possible due to issues such as his battle with Parkinsonâs disease and recovery from multiple surgeries.