Less than three weeks before his passing, Ozzy Osbourne gave Birmingham one final, unforgettable night. On July 22nd, the heavy metal legend died in Buckinghamshire, but before that, he reunited with Black Sabbath for a charity event called Back to the Beginning.
The show at Villa Park was a historic farewell — not only for Black Sabbath but also for Ozzy himself. Performing from a throne due to mobility issues, he delivered both Sabbath classics and a solo set. The night featured an all-star lineup including Metallica, Tool, Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler, Billy Corgan, and Travis Barker.
Robert Plant, who came up through the same Midlands music scene in the late ’60s, knew Black Sabbath before fame found them — back when they were all just playing the same pubs. But in a new interview with Mojo, the former Led Zeppelin frontman revealed why he turned down an invitation from his old friend Tony Iommi to attend the show.
“I said, ‘Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come,’” Plant recalled. “I just can’t. I’m not saying that I’d rather hang out with Peter Gabriel or Youssou N’Dour, but I don’t know anything about what’s going on in that world now, at all. I don’t decry it, I’ve got nothing against it. It’s just I found these other places that are so rich.”
Following Ozzy’s death, Plant paid tribute on social media, writing:
“Farewell Ozzy … what a journey … sail on up there … finally at peace … you truly changed the planet of rock.”
Ozzy’s death certificate, filed by his daughter Aimée in London, listed the cause as cardiac arrest. His occupation was noted simply but powerfully: songwriter, performer and rock legend.
On July 31st, he was laid to rest by a lake on his family property in Buckinghamshire, as he had wished, in a private ceremony for close friends and family. A day earlier, fans lined the streets for a tearful funeral procession in Birmingham, gathering at the Black Sabbath Bridge to say goodbye.
The BBC will honor his memory with Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, a fly-on-the-wall documentary filmed during the last three years of his life, airing August 18th.
