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The Black Sabbath story will end definitively on July 5, when the band conclude 57 years of sui generis heaviosity and tragi-comic conflict at an epochal mega-gig at Villa Park. Or will it? With less than a month to go, it\u2019s still unclear quite how these gallant yet frail septuagenarians make it to the stage\u2026 or off it. \u201cWe\u2019ll probably keel over after two songs!\u201d they tell Keith Cameron.<\/p>\n
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Words: Keith Cameron<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/Black-Sabbath_1972_BW-Original-2-1-4_Photo-by-Kevin-Goff_WB-Ow.jpg” title_text=”Black Sabbath_1972_B&W Original 2 1-4_Photo by Kevin Goff_WB Ow” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Heroes and Villains: Black Sabbath (from left) Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, 1972.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n THE LAST TIME BILL WARD WENT THROUGH THE GATES AT VILLA Park he was 15, and The Beatles were at Number 1. He doesn\u2019t recall much about the football match, apart from local hero Mike Tindall playing at wing-half for Aston Villa. But Ward does remember the half-time entertainment.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cI was at the Witton End, and it was so fucking cold that night we got some Oxo to stay warm,\u201d he says. \u201cThen, they played She Loves You. And I thought, Man, The Beatles sound so good through those loudspeakers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing The Beatles\u2019 landmark hit record crackle through the wintry chill of an old football stadium in Birmingham changed Bill Ward\u2019s life. That same year, 1963, he began playing drums in rock\u2019n\u2019roll bands with his guitarist friend Tony Iommi. In 1968, the pair hooked up with fellow Astonians Terence \u2018Geezer\u2019 Butler and John \u2018Ozzy\u2019 Osbourne to form Earth. Soon renamed Black Sabbath, within 10 years Butler, Iommi, Osbourne and Ward reconfigured rock\u2019s DNA, turning the raw heavy metal ambience of industrial Birmingham into a new music, and tearing themselves apart in the process. This summer, after 20 years sundered, those same four sons of Aston will play together on-stage once again. This time \u2013 and, all agree, for the final time \u2013 it will be the sounds of Black Sabbath blasting out of loudspeakers at Villa Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all lived around that Villa ground,\u201d says Ward. \u201cOn match days, I used to mind cars on Grosvenor Road, where I was born. \u2018Mind your car, mister?\u2019 What we were really saying was, \u2018I\u2019ll scratch your fucking car if you don\u2019t give us sixpence.\u2019 You had to learn blackmail at six years old! But I feel blessed to have that place in my life. Even though I live in California now, I\u2019m still an Astonian, we all are. So it\u2019s just nice to be going back home \u2013 back where we were born.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1461002326-1.jpg” title_text=”Black Sabbath Pre-Show Photo In 1973″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Never say die: Black Sabbath backstage at Alexandra Palace, London Music Festival, August 2, 1973, (from left) Iommi, Ward, Osbourne, and Butler wearing an Aston Villa belt.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n DUBBED \u2018BACK TO THE BEGINNING\u2019, THIS FINAL BLACK SABBATH show is remarkable for a number of reasons. Most obviously, that Ozzy Osbourne is able to take part. Now 76, the singer\u2019s last full concert performance was the December 31, 2018 OzzFest in Los Angeles. The following February he was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease after a fall at his home, which exacerbated neck vertebrae injuries sustained in a 2003 quad bike accident and led to a succession of surgical procedures. In February 2023, after several cancellations of the European leg of his farewell No More Tours II go-round, he announced his retirement from touring, and subsequently withdrew from the Power Trip festival in California, suggesting that even one-off shows were beyond him. Yet on July 5, not only will Osbourne perform with Black Sabbath at Villa Park, he\u2019s also billed as the main support act.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u201cMagic!\u201d smiles Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy\u2019s wife and manager, when MOJO enquires how this can be possible. \u201cNo, he\u2019s working. He\u2019s working with his team of people that are getting him up and moving around, working on his breathing, doing weights to build muscle\u2026 Ozzy\u2019s had five back surgeries in six years, it\u2019s hugely debilitating. So this is not something he undertook lightly. But he kept saying: \u2018My one regret is I can\u2019t say goodbye and thank you for the life I\u2019ve been given\u2019. And I thought, Well, why don\u2019t we just do one big show and you can thank everybody? So we\u2019ve been working on it for nearly two years. You know, Birmingham has given Ozzy so much, he\u2019s so proud of where he was born. He\u2019s working his little old arse off to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond Ozzy\u2019s latest improbable return, there is the matter of the other support acts. Thanks to the bulging contact book of the show\u2019s musical director Tom Morello, Back To The Beginning\u2019s undercard boasts a smorgasbord of heaviosity so vast it would make Thor weep: there\u2019s Metallica and Guns N\u2019 Roses, then also Slayer, Pantera, Tool, Alice In Chains, Anthrax and more, with sundry significant others \u2013 including Sammy Hagar, Billy Corgan, Vernon Reid, and Morello himself \u2013 providing supergroup garnish throughout what promises to be a long and loud affair, with all profits going to Parkinson\u2019s and Birmingham children\u2019s charities. Big names are still being added \u2013 Sharon Osbourne mentions Soundgarden \u2013 and Morello promises surprises on the day. To have so many premium acts in a limited period of time will require strictly rationed set-times, with egos checked accordingly.<\/p>\n \u201cI certainly hope so!\u201d laughs Andy Copping, the Live Nation promoter tasked by the Osbournes with organising it all. Having promoted the Download festival since its inception, Copping is expert in the mechanics of big rock events. Back To The Beginning, however, has presented some very specific challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine putting a three-day festival bill into one,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it\u2019s pretty intense, trying to fit all those bands in. But every artist we talk to is just overjoyed to be involved. This is like Live Aid and the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert rolled into one. I don\u2019t think fans of rock and metal are going to ever see anything like this again.\u201d<\/p>\n Rock and metal stars seem to agree. Following the event\u2019s announcement in February, Copping started getting calls from artists saying they wanted in, and he had to explain there wasn\u2019t any room. Until, that is, one of those callers was Axl Rose, having noted Slash and Duff McKagan in the \u2018additional performance\u2019 sub-section. Hence the upgrade to the full GN\u2019R experience. \u201cIt is,\u201d Andy Copping concedes, \u201cthe sort of headache you want. When you can turn something that was already great into something amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Almost as extraordinary as the supporting cast\u2019s depth and calibre is the willingness of all concerned to suspend their normally well-tuned hierarchical sensitivities. It\u2019s 20 years since Metallica conceded top billing to anyone and opened for The Rolling Stones in San Francisco \u2013 a reportedly chastening experience where they were asked to avoid looking directly at Mick Jagger as he emerged for a pre-show warm-up. Even Ozzy Osbourne himself, at his own OzzFest in 2008, played before Metallica. No such equivocation now: when it comes to the original Black Sabbath playing together for one last time, Metallica know their place.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going there to show our respect and our love,\u201d says bassist Robert Trujillo. \u201cThey\u2019ve earned it. These guys are humble, they didn\u2019t grow up privileged. They really did earn every bit of their success, they\u2019ve had the rough road and all the challenges that go with the business. There was no shortcut for them. And just to see how they\u2019re being celebrated, it\u2019s beautiful. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be overwhelming in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n Trujillo is well qualified to judge the emotional significance of the event, having played in the Ozzy Osbourne band for five years prior to joining Metallica in 2003. As he notes, Black Sabbath may have invented heavy metal \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t think most of the bands playing this show would exist without them\u201d \u2013 but they also transcend it. No Black Sabbath means no goth, no grunge\u2026 even hip-hop greats from Beastie Boys and Ice-T to Kanye West have sampled Sabbath. Speaking to MOJO from the Rogers Centre stadium in Toronto, where Metallica have just begun the latest leg of a two-year world tour, Trujillo mentions an encounter earlier in the day at his hotel gym. \u201cI was working out, and there was a gentleman on the treadmill, who was blasting [Black Sabbath] Volume 4. I don\u2019t know if the other people in the gym appreciated it much, but I thought it was pretty cool. He kind of looked like Rick Rubin. It turns out he plays in Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds! And he loves Black Sabbath! It just goes to show you the power of that band.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n ROBERT TRUJILLO MAY NOT HAVE RECOGNISED HIM, but Warren Ellis is a famously staunch rock epicurean. Still, would Ellis have countenanced publicly soundtracking his treadmill routine with, say, Blizzard Of Ozz? Equally, would Axl Rose have demanded to be added to a mere farewell OzzFest? Which, states Sharon Osbourne, was how the Villa Park bash was originally conceived. \u201cWe\u2019d already started putting the show together,\u201d she says, \u201cit was already done for Ozzy. And then he said, \u2018Well, I\u2019ll call the guys and see if they want to come up and do a few songs.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n The Sabbath factor has made Back To The Beginning an epochal event, thanks to the personnel specifics. Yet the participation of all four original members was far from guaranteed. Bill Ward, for instance, has been a conspicuous and contentious absentee from Sabbath activity ever since he last played with the band on October 18, 2005 at a UK Music Hall of Fame ceremony, and a subsequent 2006 appearance at the band\u2019s induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ward opted out of 2012\u2019s reunion gigs and comeback album 13, and also 2016-17\u2019s farewell tour The End, in both instances citing an \u201cunsignable\u201d contract, to which Ozzy Osbourne responded by querying Ward\u2019s capability to perform for two hours each night: \u201cPhysically, you knew you were fucked,\u201d he said on Facebook.<\/p>\n Towards the end of The End, however, Osbourne struck a more emollient note, telling MOJO he was \u201csorry\u201d Ward wouldn\u2019t be present for the tour\u2019s final date at Birmingham\u2019s NEC arena in February 2017. Either way, for Black Sabbath purists, it\u2019s Bill Ward\u2019s name alongside his bandmates\u2019 that makes this a meaningful event. Those Black Sabbath purists include the bass player in Black Sabbath.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could only happen if the original four of us were involved, otherwise it would be pointless,\u201d says Geezer Butler. \u201cThe whole concept was to finish back where we all started, in Aston, and it would seem false having someone who wasn\u2019t there from the beginning. Ozzy texted me and asked if I\u2019d be interested in ending the whole Sabbath story with the original four members back in Aston. I said I\u2019d do it if Tony and Bill were up for it, which they were.\u201d<\/p>\n Ward concurs. \u201cThis was basically something that came from Ozz \u2013 he called me and asked: \u2018I\u2019m gonna do one last time \u2013 do you want to come and play?\u2019 There\u2019s no finances involved in this. Those affairs during that period from 2012 onward, it wasn\u2019t particularly nice. I missed the band terribly, I missed everything about it. That was a really difficult and very painful part of my career. But regardless of everything, they\u2019re still my brothers. They always have been. And it\u2019s my understanding that there\u2019s some finality here. So, what the hell? It\u2019s a one-off gig, at Villa Park, a very special place for me, and the rest of the guys as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ironically, the only member of Black Sabbath who rejected Ozzy\u2019s request was the only member of Black Sabbath never to have left the band.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, when it was first mentioned to me, I said, no, I wouldn\u2019t do it,\u201d says Tony Iommi. \u201cAnd it went on and on. I met with Sharon and we talked about it. I was just concerned about how it\u2019s going to be health-wise for everybody, myself included. We need to be good. We\u2019ve got a good legacy, and I didn\u2019t want to destroy it by everything not being right. The main thing for me is it\u2019s for charity, and we\u2019re getting back out with the original line-up, to finish it off properly. But yeah, I had to be convinced. Because the end of The End was the end for me, I thought that was it. But now this is the end of the end\u2026 of the end.\u201d He laughs. \u201cConfusing, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-512373964.jpg” title_text=”Black Sabbath %22The End%22 Tour – New York” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n It\u2019s The End, Madison Square Garden, New York, February 25, 2016, with (far left) drummer Tommy Clufetos<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n WEIRDLY, BACK TO THE BEGINNING COINCIDES with another Brummie musical legend taking a final bow at another football stadium three miles away, when Jeff Lynne\u2019s ELO plays at Birmingham City FC\u2019s St Andrew\u2019s. It\u2019s Villains versus Blues in a rock\u2019n\u2019roll retirement Match Of The Day, with extra niggle from estranged ELO drummer Bev Bevan having had two spells with Sabbath in the \u201980s, plus Sharon Osbourne\u2019s father Don Arden managing both bands in the \u201970s. \u201cWell, we know\u00a0 who\u2019s already won!\u201d says Sharon. \u201cCome on!\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n The first hint of a monumental happening at Villa Park came last summer, with the launch of Aston Villa\u2019s 2024\/25 home kit. The promo video opened with Osbourne and Butler on the phone \u2013 \u201c\u2019Ey Geezer!\u201d \u201cAll right Ozz?\u201d \u201cLet\u2019s play Villa Park!\u201d \u201cAs long as I\u2019m left wing\u201d \u2013 then riffed through a quick succession of cameos from Villa stars past and present pledging loyalty to manager Unai Emery over a soundtrack of Paranoid, concluding with Geezer and Ozzy yelling \u201cUp the Villa!\u201d<\/p>\n Butler is the band\u2019s only true football fanatic. Iommi appeared alongside Sharon at the Villa Park press launch for Back To The Beginning holding personalised Sabbath claret shirts, but professes an ecumenical stance with regard to the city\u2019s football divide. \u201cI\u2019ve never been really a football fan,\u201d he admits, \u201cwhich is peculiar, because a lot of my friends were ex-football players and managers. Trevor Francis, Andy Townsend, Andy Gray\u2026 I did go to the Villa once with Andy Gray. But no, that\u2019s Geezer\u2019s department.\u201d<\/p>\n Ozzy might be the self-styled Prince Of Darkness, but it\u2019s Butler, Sabbath\u2019s principal lyricist, who is the band\u2019s philosopher king. Geezer speaks eloquently of growing up the youngest of seven in a large Irish Catholic family on Victoria Road, a 10-minute walk from Villa Park, as well as the band\u2019s relationship with the neighbourhood where all four members grew up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a great community spirit,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone was relatively poor, working-class and from diverse backgrounds, but we all helped each other out when needed. I had an extremely happy childhood, despite having no hot water, heating, bathroom, or indoor toilet in the house, and a few bombed-out buildings during the 1950s became my playground, but those things probably made me more determined to succeed at what I put my mind to. Ozzy, Tony and Bill were all just streets away from me, within walking distance, which was great since none of us had cars or bikes \u2013 or money \u2013 and we all shared the same sort of upbringing and were all determined to succeed, in spite of everyone telling us we\u2019d never get anywhere with our band. We all had a fighting spirit, which you had to have growing up in Aston.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/shutterstock_editorial_9734199a.jpg” title_text=”Black Sabbath Performing in 1978. – 01 Jan 1978″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n EVERY OUNCE OF THAT FIGHTING SPIRIT WILL BE required to see Black Sabbath through this final challenge.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Osbourne has employed a vocal coach and a live-in trainer to get him match fit for Villa Park, but it\u2019s no trivial undertaking for his bandmates either. In 2016, Iommi, now 77, was given the all-clear following treatment for lymphoma, but subsequently had a growth removed from his throat and still has regular check-ups with his oncologist. \u201cI had an appointment in the hospital yesterday,\u201d he says, breezily. \u201cI\u2019ve also got a problem with a trapped nerve in my neck \u2013 nine months and it won\u2019t shift. When you get to our age, things just go wrong. We\u2019ll probably keel over after two songs!\u201d<\/p>\n Illness prevented Butler from joining Iommi and Osbourne\u2019s Birmingham Commonwealth Games finale in 2022, and the bassist is currently working hard on his flexibility. \u201cIt\u2019s surprising how easily finger and hand cramps can set in after not playing for a while,\u201d he says. \u201cOut there in front of thousands of fans, I\u2019m aware that if I mess up, the whole band will look bad.\u201d Ward, meanwhile, is doubling down on rehearsal and fitness programmes with his drum crew, building the core strength and leg power required to drive Sabbath\u2019s massive double bass drum attack, and getting his weight down. He sounds like a man with a point to prove.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be 77 when we play that gig \u2013 that\u2019s a whole other world, 77 and playing 26-inch bass drums. One could call it lunacy. But I never stopped working, especially in the past four years, I\u2019ve been making my own albums, playing the entire time. I\u2019ve got to be down in weight to be able to swerve and move and crash and thrash, I gotta be able to punch those bass drums. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to be expected of me \u2013 and I expect that of me also.\u201d A lugubrious chuckle. \u201cI\u2019m expecting the soundscape to be very loud.\u201d<\/p>\n In truth, with a couple of months to go, no one can say with certainty how Back To The Beginning will play out. There is circumspection around the issue of Ozzy on-stage: Iommi suggests he\u2019ll sit in a throne, while Sharon points to the Commonwealth Games set-up when Ozzy had a metal harness that he could lean against. Then there\u2019s the set\u2019s duration: Ward says he was told to prepare for four or five songs, but is training for the possibility of six or more. The picture will become clearer once the four members plus their support teams convene in the UK for a week\u2019s studio rehearsal in June, followed by a couple of days\u2019 stage rehearsal at a Birmingham arena, followed by a stage rehearsal at Villa Park on the day before the gig. Which happens to be Ozzy and Sharon\u2019s 43rd wedding anniversary. \u201cA joyous time for everyone!\u201d laughs Mrs Osbourne.<\/p>\n As for what songs Black Sabbath will play, that seems more straightforward, given a core of material they\u2019re practically obliged to perform. Part of Tom Morello\u2019s job has been to co-ordinate the support acts\u2019 Sabbath tributes, ensuring that when the stars of the show inevitably play Paranoid it hasn\u2019t already been rendered a dozen times throughout the day.<\/p>\n The one thing for sure is that, unlike The End, this really is the end. Ozzy\u2019s said as much. \u201cHe says a lot of stuff,\u201d laughs Bill Ward, \u201cbut the gist of it was \u2018I\u2019m gonna do one last time.\u2019\u201d Tony Iommi is firm: \u201cI won\u2019t be doing it again. This will be the final show. I mean, can you imagine us trying to tour? No, this will be it.\u201d<\/p>\n Geezer Butler, however, knows that where this band is concerned, it\u2019s safer to expect the unexpected.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve given up talking about the end of Sabbath,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery time I think or say it\u2019s over, things like this show come along. Someone will probably have our DNA and resurrect us in the distant future\u2026 Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n IMAGES:<\/strong> GETTY\/ALAMY<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Into The Void?The Black Sabbath story will end definitively on July 5, when the band conclude 57 years of sui generis heaviosity and tragi-comic conflict at an epochal mega-gig at Villa Park. Or will it? With less than a month to go, it\u2019s still unclear quite how these gallant yet frail septuagenarians make it to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mojo-presents"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"akindell","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions\/2453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cThat period from 2012 onward, it was wasn\u2019t particularly nice. But regardless of everything, they\u2019re still my brothers.\u201d<\/h2>\n
Bill Ward comes in from the cold<\/h2>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve given up talking about the end of Sabbath. Every time I think or say it\u2019s over, things like this show come along.\u201d<\/h2>\n
Geezer Butler<\/h2>\n