Black Sabbath announced their last ever gig earlier this year – and legendary lead vocalist Ozzy Osbourne wants to go out by defying gravity.
The veteran metal band, who formed in 1968, will be saying goodbye forever on July 5, with a special festival set to take place at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Supporting Black Sabbath will be other metal legends Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Gojira, Lamb of God, and Mastodon.
Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2003 but only revealed his illness in 2020, will take to the stage one last time to say ‘goodnight’ to the band’s legions of fans.
And by the sounds of things, the Paranoid singer – whose real name is John – wants to give fans a night to remember with a gravity-defying stunt that will wow the thousands at Villa Park.
His long-time collaborator and friend Zakk Wylde has teased that Ozzy could fly over the football stadium while sitting on a throne made just for him.
While chatting with Metal XS according to Billboard recently, Wylde teased that Black Sabbath’s final show in July will be ambitious and ‘mind-blowing’ in ways fans won’t be expecting.
‘The game plan is, let’s hope this is what happens – you’ve always got to stay on the bright side of life, because Oz was singing at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame thing.
‘Ozzy was just sitting at the chair and he was singing Mama, I’m Coming Home, and it sounded great. So hopefully we’ll just do this, and then Oz will go, “Let’s just fire up the machine again and we’ll do another tour”.’
He continued: ‘With Oz and his throne that just flies over the stadium or whatever, [where he] shoots out buckets of water and does everything like that. So if Oz has a great time and it’s just, like, “I wanna go out on the road again,” it’s just, like, “Good. Let’s do it again.”‘
Black Sabbath will be performing with their original line-up at the Villa Park show, including Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward.
In preparation for the shows, Ozzy has apparently been hitting the gym, with the star frequently suffering bouts of ill health in more recent years.
At times he has been seen struggling to walk, or using a cane or a wheelchair, which left some fans concerned he may never return to the stage.
During an interview on SiriusXM in 2023, he said: ‘It is so tough because, I mean, I want to be out there. I want to be doing it. The thing is, my head is all right, my creativity is okay, my singing is okay, but I just can’t walk much now.’
After undergoing spinal surgery in 2022, he added: ‘I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating life has become. It is amazing how you go along in life and one stupid thing can screw everything up for a long time. I have never been ill this long in my life.’
He continued: ‘When I was a downbeat drunken drug addict I would not be out this long. It is just as frustrating.’
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