TOM MORELLO On YUNGBLUD's Version Of 'Changes' At 'Back To The Beginning': '48 Hours Before' The Concert, 'He Wasn't Gonna Be The Singer Of That Song'

In a new interview with Shan Man of the 98KUPDradio station, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello reflected on his role as the "curator" for BLACK SABBATH's all-star "Back To The Beginning" farewell show, which also marked Ozzy Osbourne's final performance. Asked when he realized the event "was more than just a concert", Morello said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I had that in my bullseye from the beginning. If we're gonna do this, we have to aim to make it the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. Heavy metal is the music that made me love music. It's in the DNA of 90% of my favorite artists. And so if we're gonna do this, we really have to treat it with the gravity that it deserves. I will say that once the actual day started, and, dude, it was thousands of hours of preparation and worry and anxiety and changing around stuff — changed in the last 24 hours, et cetera, et cetera — but once it actually started, I had to let go. I'm, like, 'Okay, the bands are now gonna play their songs or they're gonna fall off the stage. I can't control it anymore.'

"I'll share two moments with you," Morello continued. "One was — it was actually the night before. We had had three days of 12-hour rehearsals with the supergroups. And we just finished the last one. Everybody's so tired, jet lagging. The last group, which was me, Steven Tyler [of AEROSMITH], Nuno [Bettencourt of EXTREME], my son was there, et cetera, we're getting ready to go back to the hotel, try to get a good night's sleep before this thing actually kicks off. And somebody comes in and goes, 'BLACK SABBATH is soundchecking right now. Do you wanna go see 'em?' And we're, like, 'Oh, I think I can make time for that.' So we are in Birmingham stadium — the only people in the stadium. There's, like, 12 people in the stadium. BLACK SABBATH is practicing their intro, which is a song called 'War Pigs'. So this is the second-to-last time they're ever going to play this song. The red lights are on, the sirens are wailing. There's 12 people in the audience, and then they play 'War Pigs' for us. And at the end of it — they don't even know we're there. So at the end of it, we're a quarter of a mile away just cheering like crazy — Steven Tyler, and Scott Ian [of ANTHRAX] and me — and we're just going absolutely [nuts]. And I felt that — I felt, 'Okay, this is something that could really, really matter.' And then afterwards, the show happens and it feels like it's an emotional success for all of the artists involved, for the bands, for Ozzy, for the city, for fans. And Ozzy actually went to the afterparty. Ozzy was there in the afterparty. So we finally go back to the hotel. Now the hotel lobby, which they kept open till dawn, was filled with the bands, fans from all over the world. And it's been a year and a half working on this show. It finally happened. We're exhausted, but we did it. We walk in, sort of this contingent of us, and the whole place goes crazy. Everybody's crying and standing and cheering for that band, for the legacy, for the night, for the fact that like we actually did this. We did something that really, really mattered for fans and for the band. It was really pretty special."

Asked if there was any "hard call" that he had to make during the preparation for "Back To The Beginning" that the fans didn't know about, Tom said: "2,000 calls. One of the greatest moments of it was Yungblud singing [a cover of BLACK SABBATH's] 'Changes'. Well, 48 hours before, he wasn't gonna be the singer of that song. Things were changing… I landed at Heathrow Airport and I got a call, like, 'That's not happening.' So I'm, like, 'Okay, let's figure it out.' And it turned out to be one of the highlights. But that's the gig. That's what the gig is."

Morello also reflected on his last Ozzy memory, saying: "I'm at the afterparty playing pinball with my son. And somebody's tugging at my shirt. I'm, like, in the middle of a multiball. So I'm, like, 'Get off me. I got a multi…' It's Ozzy Osbourne. It's Ozzy. So [Ozzy's son] Jack Osbourne comes back and goes, 'Dude, that was my dad.' I'm, like, 'Oh, I'm so sorry.' So anyway, I let the pinballs drop. And I go over to him. And he was appreciative of everything that had gone on. I got to give him a kiss on the head one more time, thank him. And then this is the last words that Ozzy Osbourne said to me in person. He was, like, 'Tell Sharon I wanna get the fuck outta here' — in true Ozzy form and also sort of poetic in a way."

Last August, Morello was asked during an appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello what the "biggest challenge" was in putting "Back To The Beginning" together. Morello said: "Well, I suppose the biggest challenge was just doing it justice. Heavy metal is the music that made me love music and BLACK SABBATH invented heavy metal. So when I was tapped by Ozzy and [his wife and manager] Sharon to be the musical director, I took it really, really seriously and used all of my love of the genre and curatorial abilities to try to make something that was… The goal was very, very simple from the beginning, is to make it the greatest and most important day in the history of heavy metal, and all reports are that we did pretty well."

Asked if he got his own moment with Ozzy and the rest of SABBATH to say what he wanted to say to the undisputed architects of heavy metal, Tom said: "Yeah. The good, nice news is throughout this process I've been able to be in communication with Ozzy and with [SABBATH guitarist] Tony Iommi and those guys, and it's really pretty mind-blowing. I've never stopped being a fan from day one, and realizing how important Tony Iommi's riffs are, how important Ozzy Osbourne is, and Ozzy bringing [late guitarist] Randy Rhoads to the world, that was the poster that was on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day. So, I got to be able to tell them and be able to really do my best and, over the course of the last year plus, give everything I had to try to make this show an important day for them in their hometown, but also an important day for all of the bands, all of the fans who have been touched by their music over the course of more than 50 years."

Asked if he had a favorite moment — as a fan — from the "Back To The Beginning" concert aside from SABBATH's final performance, Morello said: "Oh, wow. There were a lot. The Steven Tyler moment of doing 'The Train Kept-A-Rollin'' with Ronnie Wood [THE ROLLING STONES] into 'Walk This Way' into 'Whole Lotta Love' was pretty excellent. Yungblud's version of 'Changes' was a real showstopper.

"One of the ideas I had early on was that each of the bands would play at least one SABBATH or Ozzy song, and it was basically like watching 14 of the greatest SABBATH and Ozzy tribute bands of all time play with some of my favorite singers and guitar players in them," Morello continued. "While the day itself, honestly, was a little stressful for me, 'cause I was still working throughout the 10-hour day, it was really, really pretty fantastic. I'll tell you, for me personally, 'cause I got to play as well, playing a JUDAS PRIEST song with [former PRIEST guitarist] K.K. Downing, playing 'Breaking The Law' with K.K. Downing, as well as with Adam Jones from TOOL, my longtime friend from Libertyville, Illinois, and [SMASHING PUMPKINS'] Billy Corgan, also a Chicago-area native, the three of us grew up on JUDAS PRIEST and BLACK SABBATH, and to be reunited in a stadium a long way from our hometown playing SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST songs, where those songs were made, was pretty mind blowing."

Billboard reported in July 2025 that the concert was watched by 40,000 ticketholders and 5.8 million individuals online, with each of the above-mentioned charities also raising tens of thousands of pounds in additional donations by raffling off tickets to the show, auctioning off iconic art and band photographs donated by BLACK SABBATH, and through individual contributions from fans as they streamed into the concert, which took place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

At "Back To The Beginning", Ozzy played a five-song set with his solo band — consisting of guitarist Zakk Wylde, bassist Mike Inez, keyboardist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos — before being joined by fellow original BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar),Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) for four classic SABBATH songs: "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "N.I.B." and "Paranoid".

Ozzy's solo set consisted of four songs from Osbourne's 1980 solo debut album "Blizzard Of Ozz" — "I Don't Know", "Mr. Crowley", "Suicide Solution" and "Crazy Train" — along with his 1991 "No More Tears" ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home".

The 76-year-old heavy metal singer sang while seated on a black throne and appeared overcome with emotion at times. "You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he told the crowd.

At the end of SABBATH's set, Ozzy said: "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts." Osbourne was then presented with a cake, while fireworks lit up the stadium from overhead.

A message on screen then read, "Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever," before the sky lit up with fireworks.

Ozzy died on July 22, 2025 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate also reportedly said the musician suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.