The final farewell of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath takes place far too soon. On July 5, the boys from Birmingham will say so long and seemingly never grace our eyes again. Maybe they surprise us and do a one-off, but promises are promises.
The Sabbath lads are not going to be playing on their own, though. The opening acts are far worthy of carrying tours on their own, and have done so many times in many years. Sabbath might have even been worthy of opening for them at times, but let's digress.
We know the bands that will be at the show at Villa Park in Birmingham in early July. In some part, they include...and whew...this is a long list, but here you go:
Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gokira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Mastadon, Rival Sons, Tom Morello, Billy Corgan, David Draiman, Duff McKagan, Fred Durst, Lzzy Hale, Jake E. Lee, Jonathan Davis, K.K. Downing, Mike Bordin, Papa V Perpetua, Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Slash, Sleep Token II, Wolfgang Van Halen, Steven Tyler, Soundgarden, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Vernon Reid, Whitfield Crane, and David Ellefson. Whew!
Sharon Osbourne discusses two bands that will miss the final Black Sabbath concert
Two bands will definitely not be a part of the Sabbath's final goodbye. Those are Judas Priest and AC/DC. There is no bad blood between those bands and Ozzy or Sabbath. They just have other gigs to play. For Judas Priest, a fellow Birmingham band, they had already committed elsewhere.
Did they regret their premature decision? Maybe, but business is business, and a great musician honors their commitments either way. Plus, Priest is playing with the Scorpions on likely one of the final gigs, and that will take place in Hannover, Germany.
Ozzy's wife, Sharon Osbourne, even offered to fly Judas Priest from Hannover to Birmingham, but the logistics were simply too much.
Sharon Osbourne told Music Business Worldwide of the Judas Priest and AC/DC issues, "There are two bands that we would have loved to have been there, but they couldn't because they're working that day. And that was Judas Priest, a local band, and Angus [Young] from AC/DC, because he's always been a huge supporter of Ozzy's."
Here is the good news for those who are not part of Judas Priest and AC/DC: Even if you can't go to the final Black Sabbath show, you can stream the event. That means all the bands, not just Ozzy, Tony Iommi, and their mates. Streaming tickets are only $29.99, too.