During the MIDEM 2026 event in Cannes, France, on February 6, Sharon Osbourne and Live Nation U.K. promoter Andy Copping revealed exciting plans for an upcoming Black Sabbath classical tour. The project will combine heavy metal pioneers’ legendary catalog with local orchestras and cutting-edge visual production.
Sharon Osbourne—music manager, television personality, and widow of Ozzy Osbourne—explained how the concept originated with Ozzy Osbourne‘s current keyboardist, Adam Wakeman, whose father is Yes legend Rick Wakeman.
“ Ozzy‘s keyboard player, Adam Wakeman, his father’s [Yes keyboard legend] Rick Wakeman. And, actually, he came up with the idea of doing a classical version of Sabbath. And then we said, ‘Great.’ He’s converted the music into classical music, and then I said, ‘We need guitar players to come in at some point. You need that.’ So we’re gonna bring in about four guitar players to play together. And so people see the original version and the classical in one night. And we’re gonna do it with state-of-the-art graphics and state-of-the-art sound system, go to major cities, pick up the local philharmonic.”
Andy Copping, who is also the creative mind behind the U.K.’s Download festival, shared the initial vision for launching the tour.
He said: “We’re thinking about launching it in the U.K., hopefully at the Royal Albert Hall. And that will be, obviously, a great springboard for having it as a touring entity. It’s actually very, very exciting.”
Copping acknowledged that some fans might be skeptical about mixing heavy metal with classical instrumentation. However, he drew a direct comparison to the highly successful “Black Sabbath – The Ballet” production by the Birmingham Royal Ballet to prove that the music translates perfectly.
“It’s interesting. People’s first thoughts are, ‘Black Sabbath and orchestra — is that gonna work?’ But they said that about [Birmingham Royal Ballet‘s ‘Black Sabbath – The Ballet’]. I mean, ballet and Black Sabbath music — is that gonna work? I went to the show, the ballet show. It’s unbelievable how it’s made that transition. I didn’t know what I was gonna see when I got there, but there’s literally ballet going on and there’s this thunderous soundtrack, the Black Sabbath music. And there’s interviews with the band going on in the background. It’s very hard to explain, but if you get the opportunity to see that, that is well worth going to see. And the orchestral side will be another step further on from that. It’s very, very exciting.”
The musical connection between the Wakeman family and Black Sabbath runs deep. In 1973, Rick Wakeman contributed to the Black Sabbath album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, specifically playing on the track “Sabbra Cadabra“. At the time, he was simultaneously working on the Yes album Tales From Topographic Oceans at the same recording studio in Willesden Green.
The collaborations continued decades later when Rick Wakeman worked with Ozzy Osbourne on the singer’s 1995 solo effort, Ozzmosis, while Ozzy Osbourne returned the favor by appearing on Rick Wakeman‘s 1999 record, Return To The Centre Of The Earth.
Meanwhile, the acclaimed “Black Sabbath – The Ballet” recently wrapped up a successful run of late 2025 performances across the U.K., hitting stages in Birmingham, Salford, Plymouth, London, and Edinburgh following its international stops in Europe and the United States.
