The original lineup of Black Sabbath reunited for the first time in 20 years on Saturday in the U.K. — and for the last time ever, since the performance was also billed as the final concert ever for singer Ozzy Osbourne. The Birmingham stadium show climaxed with a four-song Sabbath set, preceded by Osbourne doing a five-song set of his solo material … preceded in turn by a full day’s worth of metal and hard-rock all-stars doing mini-sets that included Sabbath covers as well as original material.
“It’s so good to be on this fucking stage, you have no idea,” Osbourne told the crowd of 42,000 when his winged throne first rose up from under the stage. “Let the madness begin!”
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi had indicated earlier that the group would only be doing four songs, due to their collective stamina issues, and that indeed turned out to be the case, with him, Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward performing “War Pigs,” “NIB,” “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” to close out the 10-hour day at the stadium. Following the last number, the now presumably retired-for-good Osbourne was presented with a cake, as fireworks went off over Villa Park.
Earlier, for his “solo” set, Osbourne was supported by a band that included his longtime post-Sabbath guitarist Zakk Wylde as he sang “I Don’t Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama I’m Coming Home” and “Crazy Train.” Before performing “Mama,” he told the audience that he had been “laid up for six years” and added, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Metallica, Guns N Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon did sets ranging from two to seven songs in length, each of them including at least one Sabbath or Osbourne cover. GNR won the prize for the greatest amount of veneration as far as sheer quantity goes, with the Axl Rose-fronted unit doing four Sabbath covers before finishing off with two of the band’s own songs.
That list of support acts does not count a pair of supergroups that included such figures as Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, Ronnie Wood, Travis Barker, Sammy Hagar, Andrew Watt, Yungblud, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Nuno Bettencourt, Chad Smith, Vernon Reid and many others. Sitting in with one of the supergroups was Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who served as the official curator of the day’s lineup.
Actor Jason Momoa was the host for the festivities, when not jumping into the moshpit: “Make some space for me, I’m coming in!” he announced to the crowd.
(Scroll down to see the complete setlists for each of the day’s performances, along with video excerpts of some of the main attractions.)
The show was viewed not just by the 42,000 in attendance at Villa Park in Birmingham in central England, but more than 3 million more who paid for a livestream — which was a bit of a misnomer, since the stream ran about two hours behind the live festivities.
The day went off without many obvious hitches, although one unexpected development was Disturbed singer David Draiman being greeted with boos as well as cheers. (Draiman participated in one of the all-star jams, singing covers of “Sweet Leaf” and Osbourne’s solo song “Shot in the Dark.”) “We gonna start this?” he defiantly asked the crowd. It was believed that the booing had to do with the singer’s very vocal support of Israel. He recently congratulated Sharon Osbourne after she called for Kneecap’s visas to be revoked, and he shared a photo of himself signing artillery shells used by the IDF in its assault on Gaza, including the inscription “Fuck Hamas.”
It did not come as a surprise that Osbourne was seated for this final performance. Although he had still been performing standing in 2022, by the time of 2024, when he was inducted as a solo artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Osbourne was seated for that show. The 76-year-old has been recovering from spinal surgeries in recent years as well as Parkinson’s disease. On his SiriusXM radio show this year, he said, “I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive.”
In affirming that this really would be his last live performance, Osbourne told the Guardian, “I’d love to say ‘never say never’, but after the last six years or so … it is time. I don’t want to die in a hotel room somewhere. I want to spend the rest of my life with my family.”
Osbourne had also indicated that he wanted to put a final cap on Sabbath’s legacy as well as his own career. The group put out its debut album in 1970, marking the true advent of heavy metal, to many fans’ minds, and then he departed for a solo career in 1979. There were reunions at various points over the years, but the last time all four original members performed live together was at the close of the Ozzfest tour in 2005. Three members of the band had participated in a final album, “13,” in 2013, and the group did its final show up till now in Birmingham in 2017, but Ward had not been a part of those post-2005 reunions.
The all-star cast paid tribute to the band and specifically to Osbourne throughout the day. “Black Sabbath: we’d all be different people without them, that’s the truth,” said Pantera singer Phil Anselmo. “I know I wouldn’t be up here with a microphone in my hand without Black Sabbath … who’s greater?”
Reviewing the show almost in real time from on-site for the Guardian, critic Michael Hann wrote: “Ozzy, bless his heart, is not what he was. He delivers both his solo set and the Sabbath set from a throne, and at times he is clearly struggling to hit pitch. But he seems deeply moved by his reception, and the crowd carry him when he can’t hit the notes. It’s very emotional and one senses he – as well as the crowd – wish he could have been fit for longer sets. But what a joy to see the original Sabbath foursome – drummer Bill Ward stripped to the waist, alarmingly – if only for four songs. ‘Paranoid’ ends, fireworks begin, and that’s your lot.”
Proceeds from the concert will be divided up between Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham children’s hospital and the Birmingham-based Acorns children’s hospice.
Here are the complete setlists for the epic Birmingham concert, from the first act of the day through the reunited Black Sabbath’s grand finale:
Mastodon
- “Black Tongue”
- “Blood and Thunder”
- “Supernaut” (Black Sabbath Cover)
Rival Sons
- “Do Your Worst”
- “Electric Funeral” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Secret”
Anthrax
- “Indians”
- “Into the Void” (Black Sabbath Cover)
Halestorm
- “Love Bites (So Do I)”
- “Rain Your Blood on Me”
- “Perry Mason” (Ozzy Osbourne Cover)
Lamb of God
- “Laid to Rest”
- “Redneck”
- “Children of the Grave” (Black Sabbath cover)
Supergroup No. 1 (with Yungblud, Lzzy Hale, Nuno Bettencourt, David Draiman, Whitfield Crane, Jake E. Lee, Mike Bordin, David Ellefson, Adam Wakeman, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Sleep Token II)
- “Ultimate Sin” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- “Shot in the Dark” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- “Sweet Leaf” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Believer” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- “Changes” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
Jack Black, Revel Ian, Roman Morello (pre-recorded video)
- “Mr. Crowley” (Ozzy Osbourne Cover, pre-taped video performance)
Alice in Chains
- “Man in the Box”
- “Would?”
- “Fairies Wear Boots” (Black Sabbath cover)
Gojira
- “Stranded”
- “Silvera”
- “Mea Culpa” (with Marina Viotti)
- “Under the Sun” (Black Sabbath cover)
Supergroup No. 2 (Billy Corgan, Sammy Hagar, Papa V Perpetua, Steven Tyler, Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt, Rudy Sarzo, Travis Barker, Chad Smith, Danny Carey, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Adam Wakeman, Vernon Reid, Ron Wood, Andrew Watt)
- “Symptom of the Universe” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Breaking the Law” (Judas Priest cover)
- “Snowblind” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Flying High Again” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- “Rock Candy” (Montrose cover)
- “Bark at the Moon” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- “Train Kept A Rollin” (Aerosmith cover)
- “Walk This Way” / “Whole Lotta Love” (Aerosmith / Led Zeppelin Covers)
Pantera
- “Cowboys From Hell”
- “Walk”
- “Planet Caravan” (Black Sabbath cover)
- Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath cover)
Tool
- “Forty Six & 2”
- “Hand of Doom” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Ænema”
Slayer
- “Disciple”
- “War Ensemble”
- “Wicked World” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “South of Heaven”
- “Wicked World” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Raining Blood”
- “Angel of Death”
Guns N’ Roses
- “It’s Alright” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Never Say Die!” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Junior’s Eyes” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” (Blood Sabbath cover)
- “Welcome to the Jungle”
- “Paradise City”
Metallica
- “Hole in the Sky” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Creeping Death”
- “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
- “Johnny Blade” (Black Sabbath cover)
- “Battery”
- “Master of Puppets”
Ozzy Osbourne
- “I Don’t Know”
- “Mr. Crowley”
- “Suicide Solution”
- “Mama I’m Coming Home”
- “Crazy Train”
Black Sabbath
1. “War Pigs”
2. “N.I.B.”
3. “Iron Man”
4. “Paranoid”