What Ozzy Osbourne's Final Concert Was Really Like

Black Sabbath is one of the best-loved bands in the history of heavy metal, and the band's charismatic lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne, is considered one of the genre's defining frontmen. Ozzy's career has been beset by various personal problems which derailed his career in the band and helped lead to a less-than-stellar reputation in the music world, as well as declining health in recent years, highlighted by a concerning photo in 2024. But he has remained a towering figure for music lovers and the countless musicians he has influenced over the years, a fact that was abundantly clear at Ozzy and Black Sabbath's final ever concert on July 5, 2025, an event curated by Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello.

The send-off was suitably epic: a 10-hour extravaganza at the 40,000 capacity Villa Park Stadium in Ozzy's home city of Birmingham, UK, with bands performing short sets — each featuring a Black Sabbath cover — on a rotating stage with an impressively quick turnaround between slots. Titled "Back to the Beginning," the show boasted the cream of hard rock and metal from Mastodon, Rival Sons, and Anthrax at the start of the bill to Slayer, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica just before the arrival of Ozzy, who performed a solo set, and the rest of Black Sabbath for their final curtain call.

Within minutes of Metallica rounding off their set with their iconic "Master of Puppets," the stage was set for the arrival of the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. His imminent appearance was heralded by the infernal crescendo of Carl Orff's "O Fortuna," before Ozzy arrived on the stage on an extravagant black throne decorated with bats and skulls. "Let me hear you!" Ozzy commanded the crowd, adding, "Let the madness begin!" before launching into his first solo song, "I Don't Know," which was met by screams from the crowd and had Ozzy himself rocking in his chair.

"It's so good to be on this f****** stage, you have no idea," Ozzy told the crowd, asking, "Have you had a good day today?" By this point, attendees in the stands had already been on their feet and rocking to the best in the business for more than eight hours — a feature of endurance that can only be described as truly metal. He soon rolled back the years with rousing versions of "Mr. Crowley," and "Suicide Solution," before reminding the crowd: "I've been laid up for six years ... you've got no idea how I feel," referring to respiratory infections that ended a farewell tour in 2019, as well as Parkinson's disease and spinal injuries. 

He then slowed the pace with "Mama I'm Coming Home." Delivered with Ozzy's voice cracking and tears from many in the audience, the song's lyrics, "Times have changed and times are strange/ Here I come but I ain't the same/ Mama, I'm coming home," offering perhaps the most poignant moment of the night. Ozzy rounded out his solo set with an emphatic version of "Crazy Train," before thanking the audience and taking a short break.

The large screens broadcast footage of Black Sabbath in their heyday, including news clips demonstrating the outrage the band caused in the media when they first appeared in the late 1960s. Then the stadium darkened, with a wailing siren announcing the band was due to arrive.

"We are Black Sabbath!" So began the final set of metal's great originators, with Ozzy Osbourne joined on stage by original Sabbath members Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, and Bill Ward on drums, who opened their four-song set with the first droning, then spiky, then irresistibly headbanging "War Pigs," with Ozzy's every word accompanied by the audience, who also sang along to Iommi's iconic closing riff.

Then came the "N.I.B," which opened with Butler's exceptionally dynamic bass solo, proving that he has lost little of his dexterity on the fretboard. By this time, Ozzy, whose voice was a little weak in his solo set, was at full power, and unmistakable in his intonation. He was in similar voice for "Iron Man," the heavy stomp of which had the crowd nodding in unison. 

"Unfortunately, we've come to our last song, ever," said Ozzy, before thanking the crowd for their support over the years. Of course, there was only one song that could round out such a momentous day: the perennial hard rock classic, "Paranoid," which Ozzy introduced before ordering the crowd to ""Go f****** crazy!" As that famous riff reverberated, the years seemed to roll back.

The song ended with a riot of applause, confetti, and fireworks. Off-mic, the livestream caught Ozzy mouthing to a member of the crew, "Turn the f****** stage!" He was obviously happy to finish on a job well done.