VIDEO “The hottest day in the history of heavy metal”. Ozzy Osbourne held her farewell concert with Black Sabbath. From Metallica to Slayer, the great bands came to sing as a tribute for the “Prince of Dark”
Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath delighted tens of thousands of fans in an emotional farewell concert, on Saturday night, in Birmingham, after a day when the largest names of rock and metal music played on stage as a tribute to the nickname “The Prince of Darkness” (the prince of darkness).
Nearly six decades after they contributed to the popularization of the metal with the song “Black Sabbath”, which fascinated and frightened, the band returned to the native city of “Back to the Beginning”, that Villa Park stadium, writes Reuters.
This sole concert, whose receipts were donated for charitable purposes, was announced as the last appearance of Osbourne, five years after the “prince of darkness”, aged 76, revealed that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, which does not let him go.
One of the most eccentric soloists in the music, who once bit the head of a bat on the stage, Osbourne sang on a black throne, sometimes seeming to come to her tears in front of the public who loves him.
“You have no idea how I feel. Thank you very much,” Osbourne said.
After Ozzy completed his solo performance, he returned with Black Sabbath, including Ward, to interpret four of their biggest hits, including “War Pigs”, “Paranoid” and “Iron Man”.
Prior to Ozzy's farewell concert, over a dozen bands, including Metallica, Slayer, Tool and Guns N 'Roses, paid tribute to the Black Sabbath band and sang in front of the multitude of fans dressed in black t-shirts, who danced, threw themselves in the crowd and made a long day.
“Without Sabbath, Metallica would not have existed. Thank you, boys, for giving us a purpose in life,” said the soloist Metallica, James Hetfield.
“The hottest day in the history of Heavy Metal”
On the stage, some of the biggest names of rock music appeared, including Rolnie Wood from Rolling Stones, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, David Ellefson from Megadeth, Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, who was also the music director.
Morello told Metal Hammer magazine that his goal was to create “the hottest day in the history of Heavy Metal, as a tribute to the band that gave birth to this genre.”
The concert brought together for the first time in 20 years the original band Sabbath, composed of Osbourne, Basier Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward.
Fans in tears at Ozzy Osbourne's farewell concert
Some fans cried, and many said they were excited.
One of them was Runo Gokdemir, a London teacher, who said he sold a 400 pounds to buy a ticket.
“I love Ozzy so much. When I went through difficult times in adolescence, I listened to Black Sabbath, and Ozzy helped me to get over many,” he told Reuters.
Lisa Meyer, who organized a Black Sabbath Exhibition in Birmingham in 2019, said the band built a sustainable heritage, offering a more heavy alternative to Beatlemania and Hippy music from the 1960s.
“This really resonated with fans, making a voice of anger, anger and frustration, but doing it in a truly cathartic way,” said Meyer, the co-founder of the Home of Metal project for Reuters.
