Black Sabbath’s Final Concert, Back to the Beginning

Written by Victoria Ness

Insight on the most funded and emotional charity concert in metal history

Back to the Beginning, a farewell concert to the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, and the founding band of metal, Black Sabbath. The concert was historical in many aspects, a tragedy for metal fans around the world, the highest-earning charity concert in history, and one of the most metal concerts in history, with Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, and so many other huge pioneers of metal, not to mention a beautiful tribute to Ozzy, Changes performed by Yungblud. 40,000 people witnessed it live, and 5.8 million people tuned in online, and all proceeds went to charities. All funds went to Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Acorn Hospice, raising around $190 million dollars.

The concert was in Birmingham England in Villa Park on July 5th, at 10 P.M. Ozzy died just 2 weeks later. The lineup was quite large, with The Doors, Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Super Group A, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Drum Off, Super Group B, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, and Black Sabbath, along with several artists from different bands, all in support of Ozzy and his trying times. 

Most Back to the Beginning participants during a photoshoot for the concert preview

Ozzy Osbourne suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, speaking on his podcast on Sirius XM saying he could not walk due to his disease. He also had an addiction to drugs and alcohol, during an interview for Variety he stated: “I’ve always been self-medicating because I’ve never liked the way I felt. I’ve had great success in my life, but I’ve never felt great about myself. And so, from a very young age, I used to huff fumes, all kinds of things, anything to get me out of my head.” He also revealed he first started rehab in 1984. Narcocnon states: daily alcohol abuse can take around 13 years off of your life, daily cocaine use takes around 13 years off also, and meth can take around 17 years off your life, taking a rough total of 43 years off of Ozzy Osbourne’s lifespan, living to 76 despite the odds.