Black Sabbath's concert this summer will be the fourth ” last concert »Heavy metal pioneers, after 1992, 1999 and 2017.
The world of metal learned this week the astonishing new that the original Black Sabbath's original formation reformed for a last concert in Birmingham, England, July 5. They will be joined by an impressive list of guests, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Anthrax, Alice in Chains, Slash and Duff McKagan, KK Downing, Tom Morello, Wolfgang Van Halen, Zakk Wylde, Jake E. Lee, and still others.
This show will mark the first performance of Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bass player Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward since October 18, 2005, when they were induced in the UK Music Hall of Fame. They reappeared together the following year when they entered Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they let Metallica play for them that evening. Ward was initially part of the 2012 reformation tour (it even appeared at the press conference which announced it), but it has withdrawn due to health problems and a commercial dispute. Given the precarious state of health of Osbourne and the fact that Ward is 76 years old and that it is not in great shape, it is very likely that it is their last concert.
But you can never be 100 % sure with Black Sabbath, because it is not the first time that they have announced a last concert. The first took place on November 15, 1992, when the farewell tour No More Tours D'Ozzy Osbourne ended in Cosa Mesa, California, the Pacific Amphitheater. It was mainly a solo concert in Osbourne, but Ward, Butler and Iommi went on stage at the end for “ Black Sabbath “,” Fairies Wear Boots “,” Iron Man ” And “ Paranoid ».
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tzrkse0qaw
Osbourne was only 44 years old at the time, and no one thought he was really going to retire. “” If this is the end of the road, which I strongly doubt, I would like to say one thinghe told the crowd. Thank you for this great adventure. The adventure continued three years later when he launched the SUCKS REPRESS Tour, but the rest of Black Sabbath was then busy producing a horrible album with Ernie C, the guitarist of Body Count. They did not play any role in this tour.
Things did not change until 1997, when Black Sabbath participated in the inaugural tour of the Ozzfest, then occurred with Osbourne worldwide for the next two years. In 1999, the group announced that it ended its activities after a series of concerts ” Last supper Which, according to them, would really mark the end of the group. This series ended on December 22, 1999 in NEC Arena, in their hometown of Birmingham, England. They finished with ” Paranoid ».
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixj3Sae8x1m
Barely six months later, Iommi, Butler and Ward join Osbourne for the recall during the Kroq Weenie Roast in Los Angeles. The following summer, the original Sabbath training participates in the Ozzfest. In 2004 and 2005, they again participated in the Ozzy tour. The saga took an unexpected turn in 2006 when Ronnie James Dio returned and the group (without Ward and Osbourne) baptized Heaven and Hell. They turned and recorded together until Dio's death in 2010.
The following year, Sabbath's original training announced that it is reforming for a new tour. This quickly led to a very public dispute with Bill Ward, who withdrew after declared that he had been given a “ Non -signable contract And that he was told that another drummer would be on stage by his side. “” I don't think he could have done the concert, to be honestOsbourne told the New York Daily News. He is incredibly obese. A drummer must be in good shape. He has already had two heart attacks. I don't want to be responsible for his life. »»
The group called on the drummer of the solo group of Osbourne, Tommy Clofetos, to take the place of Ward. In 2015, they announced that they were separating again after a farewell world tour they called “ The End ». This tour ended on February 4, 2017 at the Birmingham, England. The show was filmed and documented in the concert film Black Sabbath: The End of the End.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pthey0-p4my
In the years that followed, Osbourne's health has seriously deteriorated and he was unable to complete his own farewell tour. When he was inducted at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist last year, he accepted the award from a throne but did not occur.
It is unlikely that Black Sabbath will play more than a few songs in July. But it will still be a historic evening for Sabbath and the Heavy Metal in general. An evening that will also have the rare distinction of being the fourth farewell concert of a large group.
