Ozzy Osborne stuns fans with Black Sabbath at star-studded farewell gig

5 July 2025, 20:00 | Updated: 6 July 2025, 01:00

Ozzy Osborne graced the stage in Villa Park as fans for Black Sabbath in an emotional final performance in Birmingham tonight after a day of star studded performances.

Ozzy took to the stage for the final time to reunites with heavy metal legends Black Sabbath in a farewell gig on Saturday.

The Back To The Beginning show has seen the 76-year-old singer deliver his own short set before Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward play together for the first time in 20 years.

The "Prince of Darkness" took centre stage wearing his trademark thick dark eyeliner and painted black nails as he sat in a leather throne complete with a bat on top.

In the final part of the show, the original four members of Black Sabbath, Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, performed a selection of their hit songs including “War Pigs”, “NIB”, “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”.

Ozzy was presented with a cake at the end as fireworks lit up the stadium from above.

“It's so good to be on this f***ing stage, you have no idea,” he told fans.

The all-day event at Villa Park in Birmingham kicked off this morning, with crowds roaring to rock legends Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, who shared the stage.

Another West Midlands’ heavy metal legend, KK Downing from Judas Priest, performed Breaking The Law, with another metal band.

Read more: Celebrities descend on London for Spice Girl Mel B's star-studded wedding

Read more: Ozzy Osbourne to reunite with Black Sabbath for last-ever performance

Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Halestorm, Anthrax and Alice in Chains also performed in a line-up that will had metal fans in awe.

The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine's , Megadeth's David Ellefson, and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst also took to the stage.

Crowds earlier piled up outside to get their picture taken with the "stars of the show".

The show had been billed “greatest heavy metal show ever”.

Black Sabbath front Ozzy said this week: “It’s my final encore; it’s my chance to say thank you to my fans for always supporting me and being there for me.”

“I couldn’t have done my final show anywhere else. I had to go back to the beginning,” he added.

The band played its "last" gig in 2017 in Birmingham with Osborne, guitarist Iommi and bassist Butler but without Ward on drums.

In 2020, Osbourne revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and he paused touring "for now" in 2023 after extensive spinal surgery.

He had a fall at home in 2019 which aggravated injuries from a near-fatal quad bike crash in 2003, stopping his No More Tours 2 shows from going ahead in Europe and the UK.

The tour had previously been rescheduled several times because of illness, the Covid pandemic and logistical issues.

Black Sabbath's story began in Birmingham where Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward were looking to escape a life of factory work.

Their eponymous debut album in 1970 made the UK top 10 and paved the way for a string of hit records.They went on to become one of the most influential and successful metal bands of all time, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide.

The group were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, and Osbourne was added for a second time last year.He previously celebrated his home city in 2022 when he helped close the Commonwealth Games.

He rose to further fame alongside his wife Sharon - who he married in 1982 and with whom he has three children, Aimee, Jack and Kelly - through their reality TV series The Osbournes.

All profits from the July 5 show will go to charities including Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice, which is supported by Aston Villa.