Black Sabbath’s Historic Reunion
Sabbath’s Iconic Line-Up Reunites this July
For the first time in 20 years, Black Sabbath’s original line-up will reunite for a monumental final performance on July 5, 2025, in Aston, Birmingham, England, where they were founded in 1968.
Widely regarded as a leading pioneer of heavy metal music, Black Sabbath has sold over 75 million albums worldwide. Their original line-up of Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) will take the stage at Villa Park, Birmingham, home of Ozzy Osbourne’s favourite EPL football club, Aston Villa. The UK’s Prince William and his young son, Prince George, are also fervent Villa supporters. “It’s my time to go back to the beginning, said 76-year-old Ozzy, “time for me to give back to the place I was born.”
The all-day event, titled Back to the Beginning, is Ozzy’s last show and includes performances by a host of iconic bands including California’s Metallica and Slayer and Seattle’s Alice in Chains.
“Greatest Heavy Metal Show Ever” – Tom Morello.
Also appearing will be New York’s thrash metal band Anthrax, French heavy metal band Gojira (founded as Godzilla), American metal bands Halestorm, Lamb of God, Mastodon and Pantera. Others in the line-up include Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Gun N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and guitarist Slash, Limp Biscuit singer Fred Durst and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the event’s music director. “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever”, said Morello.
Black Sabbath’s influence on the music industry is immeasurable. Their unique sound, thunderous riffs, killer guitar and dark, brooding lyrics quickly set them apart from other bands of the era. Sabbath’s self-titled debut album in 1970 was followed at least 11 hugely successful albums. Black Sabbath’s music became anthems for generations of heavy metal fans, cementing their place in rock history.
Back to the Beginning music director, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.
Black Sabbath has a special place in my heart. Before they were famous, before they even recorded, just after changing their name from the Pulka Tulk Blues Band in 1969, I witnessed one of their first performances. This was in nearby Rugby (Drugby they call it.) Like Birmingham, Rugby is in the heart of England, in Shakespeare’s Warwickshire. (Most of Birmingham, including Aston, was part of Warwickshire back then.) Then in April, 2013, my first post on paulmerryblues.com was about a Black Sabbath gig in Melbourne, Australia.
After seeing Black Sabbath in 1969, I went on to work with some of the earliest bands pioneering heavy metal. The post below, ‘Witnessing Metal’s First Thunderous Steps’, explains why.
I was managing Black Sabbath’s support act in 1969, a great blues band from Rugby (home, too, of renowned experimental garage rock bands Spiritualized and Spacemen 3) called West Bank Avenue. Every decent English band back in the 1960s was a blues band.
Dare I say (after all, I was biased), West Bank were the equal of Sabbath on the night, received just as enthusiastically by the crowd. While West Bank Avenue never recorded, disappearing from the music scene to concentrate on their day jobs, Black Sabbath went from strength to strength, pioneering their brand of hardcore Birmingham blues that became heavy metal. As West Bank will tell you, such is the fickleness of rock.
I remember Ozzie, young, fresh-faced and blond, being a superb comedic front man, cracking jokes with the audience and Tony Iommi’s amazing thimble-drumming guitar. And, boy, were Sabbath loud. Even so, after downing copious pints of beer, I fell into a stupor against one of the giant speakers on the dance floor each side of the stage. The thumps from Geezer’s thudding bass and Bill’s thunderous drums didn’t just punch right through me, they bounced me back and forth off the speakers, giving me the tinnitus I still have to this day. I quite enjoyed such musical manhandling, though.
How I remember Black Sabbath from 1969.
And what is it with the water around Birmingham? As well as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Robert Plant came started their careers there, and power metal icons Judas Priest were formed in Birmingham in 1969. Motorhead’s Lemmy came from nearby Stoke on Trent. No wonder they call Birmingham the heavy metal capital of the world. (Incidentally, other non-metal bands like Dexys Midnight Runners, Duran Duran, ELO, the Moody Blues, the Move, Slade, Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood), UB40 and Wizzard also hail from Birmingham, UK.)
In 2020, Ozzie stopped touring due to extensive spinal surgery followed by a fall exacerbating his injuries caused by a near fatal quad bike crash in 2019. In 2020, Ozzie also revealed he had Parkinson’s disease. So this is no fake farewell. July 5, 2025, really is his last hurrah.
Tickets now on sale.
General sale tickets go on sale from places like Ticketmaster (UK and USA) and Live Nation UK at 10am Birmingham time on February 14, 2025, but they’re expensive: from £197.50 to £834. But that won’t deter cashed-up heavy metal fans who are expected to fly in to Birmingham from around the world. More performers will be announced soon and all profits will go to @CureParkinsons, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Acorn Children’s Hospice (supported by Aston Villa FC).
It will be a truly great show for a truly great cause.
