Set Times Reveled For Tomorrow's 'Back To The Beginning' Concert

DISTURBED's David Draiman has shared the official schedule for tomorrow's (Saturday, July 5) "Back To The Beginning" show, which will be held at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The farewell gig will see the original members of BLACK SABBATH — consisting of guitarist Tony Iommi, singer Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — reunite for the first time in 20 years, to play in their former hometown one last time. For Ozzy, who lives with Parkinson's disease, the event will also mark his final performance on stage. More than 40,000 fans are expected to attend the event, which will also see performances from METALLICA, SLAYER, PANTERA, LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello curated the list of performers, which also includes GUNS N' ROSES, TOOL, GOJIRA, HALESTORM, ALICE IN CHAINS, MASTODON and more. There will be team-up turns from musicians like Draiman, Billy Corgan (SMASHING PUMPKINS),Jonathan Davis (KORN),Fred Durst (LIMP BIZKIT),Papa V Perpetua (GHOST),Sammy Hagar (VAN HALEN),one-time Ozzy bandmembers Jake E. Lee, Rudy Sarzo and Mike Bordin. Actor Jason Momoa will compère the whole day.

The schedule is as follows:

Doors – 11:30 a.m.

MASTODON - 1:30-1:45 p.m.
RIVAL SONS - 1:52-2:07 p.m.
ANTHRAX - 2:15-2:29 p.m.
HALESTORM - 2:37 p.m.
LAMB OF GOD - 3:00-3:15 p.m.
Super Group A - 3:25-4:00 p.m.
ALICE IN CHAINS - 4:07-4:22 p.m.
GOJIRA - 4:29-4:44 p.m.
Drum Off - 4:51-5:01 p.m.
Supergroup B - 5:08-5:48 p.m.
PANTERA - 5:55-6:10 p.m.
TOOL - 6:17-6:37 p.m.
SLAYER - 6:44-7:12 p.m.
GUNS N' ROSES - 7:21-7:46 p.m.
METALLICA - 7:53-8:23 p.m.
OZZY OSBOURNE - 8:38-8:58 p.m.
BLACK SABBATH - 9:13-9:48 p.m.

Curfew - 10:30 p.m.

A livestream of the daylong event was announced in June. While it's called a livestream, the video will be delayed two hours from the in-arena start time. Those who stream the event in the U.S. will be able to start watching at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.

A livestream ticket costs $29.99 and is available at www.backtothebeginning.com.

Broadcast live from Birmingham, United Kingdom's Villa Park, those who missed out on being there can still experience this unforgettable moment, with access to the raw livestream from 3:00 p.m. U.K. time on July 5, and the chance to rewatch the concert in its entirety for another 48 hours.

"Back To The Beginning: Ozzy's Final Bow" will be captured, produced and distributed by Mercury Studios ("One To One: John & Yoko", "American Symphony", "Metallica Saved My Life"),who are pioneering the way for premium, music-driven storytelling across film, television, podcasts and immersive formats. Mercury has partnered with Kiswe — the global D2C streaming partner behind the record-breaking BTS concert livestream — to deliver this unforgettable moment of music history to fans across the globe.

Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne said: "We had such an overwhelming demand from fans from around the globe, who couldn't get tickets to the show, and they took to social media, pleading with us to broadcast a livestream of the show. Being this is such a historic event, we just couldn't let them down."

Kelly Sweeney, managing director of Mercury Studios, said: "Mercury Studios are incredibly proud to be involved in capturing this monumental milestone at Villa Park. 'Back To The Beginning' will be an unforgettable experience, and our aim is to deliver this moment to fans worldwide, wherever they are, so they don't miss out on seeing music history being made."

This past February, Sharon told The Sun that her husband is struggling to walk amid his battle with Parkinsons disease, but that his singing voice is "as good as ever". She said: "[Ozzy's] very happy to be coming back and very emotional about this.

"Parkinson's is a progressive disease. It's not something you can stabilize. It affects different parts of the body and it's affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it's ever been."

Proceeds from the "Back To The Beginning" show will support Cure Parkinson's, the Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice, a Children's Hospice supported by Aston Villa.

According to Sharon, Ozzy, who paused touring "for now" in 2023 after extensive spinal surgery and rescheduled his "No More Tours 2" shows from going ahead several times because of illness, the pandemic and logistical issues, will not play any more shows after the Villa Park event.

"Ozzy didn't have a chance to say goodbye to his friends, to his fans, and he feels there's no been no full stop," she explained. "This is his full stop."

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH last performed in 2005. Since then, SABBATH has played in partial reunions but never in its original lineup.

"For Ozzy right now, it's definitely: 'I love you and good night'," Sharon told Reuters.

She added that Ozzy was doing well and excited about the gig. "It's stimulated him," she said. "He's very, very excited and very thankful that he can do it."

The legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman was diagnosed in 2003 with Parkin 2 — a very rare genetic form of Parkinson's. During a TV appearance in January 2020, the singer disclosed that he was 'stricken" with the disease which occurs when the nerve cells of the body degenerate and levels of dopamine are reduced. Dopamine is an essential chemical that is produced by these nerve cells which send signals to different parts of the brain to control movements of the body.

Ozzy's health issues, including suffering a nasty fall and dislodging metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003, as well as catching COVID-19 three years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.

While Osbourne's health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.

Osbourne's previously announced European tour with guests JUDAS PRIEST, originally set for 2019 and then rescheduled three times, was officially canceled in early February 2023.

Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last three years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.