Back to the Beginning

Back to the Beginning was a concert by the English rock band Black Sabbath, with a number of supporting artists. It took place on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England, very near where the band was formed in 1968.

Back to the Beginning

Farewell concert by Black Sabbath
Promotional poster
Location	Aston, Birmingham, England
Venue	Villa Park
Date(s)	5 July 2025 (2025-07-05)
Attendance	45,000
Box office	£140 million
Website	backtothebeginning.com
Black Sabbath concert chronology

The event concluded with the final live performances of both the band and lead singer Ozzy Osbourne; it also marked the first time since 2005 that the original line-up of the band (Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward) had performed together live. Osbourne, no longer able to walk due to advanced Parkinson's disease, sang while seated on a throne.

The widely-lauded concert was streamed worldwide via pay per view with a broadcast delay. It featured an all-star lineup of supporting acts, including two supergroups of musicians serving as the house band. Proceeds from the event totalled £140 million, and will be donated to Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Cure Parkinson's.

Background

The Crown in Birmingham, where Black Sabbath played their first show

Black Sabbath were formed in Aston, Birmingham, England, in 1968 by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward, who grew up within a short distance of each other, and of Villa Park, in the district.^[1] The band developed a style that came to be known as heavy metal and achieved worldwide success, selling over 75 million albums.^[2]

Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979 and enjoyed a fruitful solo career, but occasionally reunited with the group.^[3] The original line-up last performed together at Ozzfest 2005.^[3] The band's previous last concert was at Genting Arena in 2017 as part of The End Tour, but with Tommy Clufetos replacing Bill Ward as drummer.^[4][5]

Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in February 2019, and suffered spinal damage from a fall that same year.^[6][7] He rarely performed in the years after, but in August 2022 made a surprise appearance with Iommi to close the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium.^[1] By early 2025, he had lost his ability to walk due to Parkinson's.^[8]

Black Sabbath and Osbourne's farewell charity concert was announced by Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne on 5 February 2025.^[3] The name "Back to the Beginning" refers to the band's formation in Aston, as Osbourne insisted on staging one final performance to "give back to the place where I was born".^[9]

Preshow honours

The founding members of Black Sabbath received Freedom of the City medals at Birmingham Council House

One week before the concert, the four original band members were made Freemen of the City of Birmingham.^[2]

To coincide with the concert, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery launched its "Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero" exhibition, running from 25 June to 28 September, displaying his awards, memorabilia and photographs.^[10]

A mural depicting the band was painted by artist Mr Murals outside Birmingham New Street railway station on Navigation Street, and completed in the days before the concert.^[11] It was visited and signed by the four band members on 29 June 2025.^[12]

Adidas launched a Birmingham trainer as part of their City Series to commemorate the concert.^[13] Personalised pairs were presented to all four members of the band ahead of the gig.^[14]

West Midlands Police paid tribute to the band by naming a litter of seven "Sprocker Spaniel" police dog puppies Ozzy, Toni, Geezer, Billie, Sabbath, Wizard and Sharon.^[15]

Legoland Discovery Centre within Birmingham's Utilita Arena created a Lego replica of the band to mark the occasion.^[16]

Production

Tom Morello, musical director

Tom Morello served as musical director for the concert, which took place on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Aston.^[17][18]

Morello's stated intention was to make it the "greatest heavy metal show ever".^[17] He compared it to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in scope, and was grateful that all members of Black Sabbath were alive to enjoy the production.^[19]

The stadium event was produced by Live Nation, with the accompanying broadcast co-produced by Kiswe and Mercury Studios.^[20] Promoter Andy Copping of Live Nation spent two years working to put the show together.^[21]

The event used a revolving stage to quickly transition between musical acts, a concept used in 1985 for the London portion of Live Aid.^[22][23]

Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now is an upcoming Paramount+ documentary which followed Osbourne between 2022 and 2025, and captured the concert's entire development.^[24]

Concert synopsis

Villa Park, where 45,000 fans gathered for the event

The concert lasted ten hours, beginning at 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC) and running through the local curfew of 23:00 BST.^[25] Sid Wilson performed a preshow DJ set while fans entered the stadium.^[26] Jason Momoa, who starred in an unreleased music video for Ozzy Osbourne's "Scary Little Green Men", hosted the all-day event.^[27] The concert featured fourteen supporting acts, including two supergroups with various musicians and guest vocalists.^[28] The supporting acts played sets that mixed covers of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne songs with those from their own catalogues.^[28] A drum-off was held between multiple drummers at the mid-point of the show.^[28] Video tributes were aired between sets from artists who could not make the event, including AC/DC, Def Leppard, Billy Idol, Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, Marilyn Manson and Dolly Parton.^[28] Prerecorded performances were also streamed, including "Mr. Crowley" by Jack Black and "Changes" by Fred Durst.^[29][30] Ozzy Osbourne played the penultimate set with his solo band, and then joined Black Sabbath to close the show.^[28]

Performances

The running order and songs performed:^[28]

1. Mastodon
   • "Black Tongue"
   • "Blood and Thunder"
   • "Supernaut" (ft. Danny Carey, Eloy Casagrande, Mario Duplantier)
2. Rival Sons
   • "Do Your Worst"
   • "Electric Funeral"
   • "Secret"
3. Anthrax
   • "Indians"
   • "Into the Void"
4. Halestorm
   • "Love Bites (So Do I)"
   • "Rain Your Blood On Me"
   • "Perry Mason"
5. Lamb of God
   • "Laid to Rest"
   • "Redneck"
   • "Children of the Grave"
6. Tom Morello’s All Stars (Supergroup A)
   • "The Ultimate Sin" (ft. Nuno Bettencourt, Mike Bordin, David Ellefson, Lzzy Hale, Jake E. Lee, Adam Wakeman)
   • "Shot in the Dark" (ft. Bordin, David Draiman, Ellefson, Lee, Wakeman)
   • "Sweet Leaf" (ft. Bettencourt, Bordin, Draiman, Ellefson, Scott Ian)
   • "Believer" (ft. Frank Bello, Bettencourt, Whitfield Crane, Ian, Sleep Token II, Wakeman)
   • "Changes" (ft. Bello, Bettencourt, Sleep Token II, Wakeman, Yungblud)
7. Jack Black (ft. Revel Ian, Roman Morello, Yoyoka Soma, Hugo Weiss)
   • "Mr. Crowley" – prerecorded
8. Alice in Chains
   • "Man in the Box"
   • "Would?"
   • "Fairies Wear Boots"
9. Gojira
   • "Stranded"
   • "Silvera"
   • "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)" (ft. Marina Viotti)
   • "Under the Sun"
10. Drum-off (ft. Travis Barker, Carey, Chad Smith)
    • "Symptom of the Universe" (ft. Bettencourt, Morello, Rudy Sarzo)
11. Tom Morello’s All Stars (Supergroup B)
    • "Breaking the Law" (ft. Carey, Billy Corgan, K. K. Downing, Adam Jones, Morello, Sarzo)
    • "Snowblind" (ft. Carey, Corgan, Downing, Jones, Morello, Sarzo)
    • "Flying High Again" (ft. Bettencourt, Sammy Hagar, Vernon Reid, Sarzo, Smith, Wakeman)
    • "Rock Candy" (ft. Bettencourt, Hagar, Morello, Sarzo, Smith, Wakeman)
    • "Bark at the Moon" (ft. Barker, Bettencourt, Papa V Perpetua, Reid, Sarzo, Wakeman)
    • "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (ft. Barker, Bettencourt, Morello, Sarzo, Steven Tyler, Andrew Watt, Ronnie Wood)
    • "Walk This Way" (ft. Bettencourt, Morello, Sarzo, Smith, Tyler, Watt)
    • "Whole Lotta Love" (ft. Bettencourt, Morello, Sarzo, Smith, Tyler, Watt)
12. Pantera
    • "Cowboys from Hell"
    • "Walk"
    • "Planet Caravan"
    • "Electric Funeral"
13. Tool
    • "Forty Six & 2"
    • "Hand of Doom"
    • "Ænema"
14. Slayer
    • "Disciple"
    • "War Ensemble"
    • "Wicked World"
    • "South of Heaven"
    • "Raining Blood"
    • "Angel of Death"
15. Fred Durst
    • "Changes" – prerecorded
16. Guns N' Roses
    • "It's Alright"
    • "Never Say Die"
    • "Junior's Eyes"
    • "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
    • "Welcome to the Jungle"
    • "Paradise City"
17. Metallica
    • "Hole in the Sky",
    • "Creeping Death"
    • "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
    • "Johnny Blade"
    • "Battery"
    • "Master of Puppets"
18. Ozzy Osbourne (ft. Tommy Clufetos, Mike Inez, Wakeman, Zakk Wylde)
    • "I Don't Know"
    • "Mr. Crowley"
    • "Suicide Solution"
    • "Mama, I'm Coming Home"
    • "Crazy Train"
19. Black Sabbath
    • "War Pigs"
    • "N.I.B."
    • "Iron Man"
    • "Paranoid"

Reception

Yungblud, whose cover of "Changes" was widely praised

Mark Beaumont of The Independent rated the show five stars out of a possible five.^[31] Yungblud's cover of "Changes" stole the first half of the show, according to Beaumont.^[31]

Rhys Buchanan of Rolling Stone rated the show five stars out of a possible five.^[32] Buchanan said Yungblud's performance, which he dedicated to Diogo Jota, "stopped the stadium in its tracks".^[32]

Michael Hann of The Guardian rated the event four stars out of a possible five.^[33] He singled out the performances of Black Sabbath, Gojira, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Yungblud as highlights of the show.^[33]

David Draiman's appearance was met by jeers from the crowd, which was attributed to his political views in support of the Israel Defense Forces.^[34] He had also leaked the show's run sheet online the day before the event.^[35]

The decision to air a video tribute by Marilyn Manson was criticised, as the artist had recently cancelled a gig at Brighton Centre after local backlash to his sexual assault allegations.^[36]

Critics lamented the bill having only three female performers – Lzzy Hale, Yoyoka Soma, and Marina Viotti.^[37]

Financial impact

Birmingham Children's Hospital, a beneficiary of the show's proceeds

All 45,000 tickets for the concert sold out in 16 minutes, with 150,000 people having waited in a virtual queue for the opportunity to attend.^[38]

The entire event was streamed online via pay per view, with a two-hour broadcast delay,^[39] and peaked at 5.8 million concurrent streams.^[33] Some pubs advertising watch parties were forced to cancel after producer Kiswe threatened legal action if they did not purchase an expensive commercial licence,^[40] Others did show the event, and reported capacity crowds and shortages of beer.^[41]

The region attracted an estimated 300,000 tourists for the show and other events that same weekend, including two concerts by ELO and a cricket match, netting the West Midlands economy £20 million.^[42]

£140 million was raised by the event for charity, which will be divided equally between Acorns Children's Hospice, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Cure Parkinson's.^[43][44]

Cancelled acts

Judas Priest, who released a cover of "War Pigs" to commemorate the event

Judas Priest were invited to participate, but were unavailable as they were scheduled to be opening for Scorpions' 60th anniversary concert in Hanover, Germany, the same night.^[45] They released a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" the week of the show to honour the band.^[46]

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush were originally supposed to perform, but had to back out after "other things came up".^[47] Wolfgang Van Halen was originally advertised for the event, but pulled out as his band Mammoth were opening for Creed in the United States, and the travel would not have been logistically possible.^[48]

The surviving members of Soundgarden (Matt Cameron, Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil) were advertised for the concert, but for unspecified reasons did not appear or perform.^[49][28] Jonathan Davis was also advertised as a performer, but only appeared in a prerecorded video tribute.^[28][50]

Sharon Osbourne removed an unnamed band from the show after they demanded payment for appearing, and vowed to reveal their identity after the event concluded.^[51] None of the acts on the bill were paid, only receiving reimbursement for their travel expenses.^[52]