Nuno Bettencourt Recounts ‘Career-Ending’ Pressure Of Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Show After Landing 12 Songs

For Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, the honor of performing at the “Back To The Beginning” concert—Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath‘s final show—quickly escalated into one of the most high-stakes challenges of his career.

Speaking on the “Steve And Rik’s POTcast,” hosted by Steve Whiteman (of Kix fame) and Rik Parks, Bettencourt revealed that his initial two-song invitation snowballed into a 12-song marathon after another high-profile guitarist dropped out.

Bettencourt explained he was first tapped for his specific skillset. “When I got a call to do that… [they] hit [me] up, like, ‘Hey, can you do a Randy [Rhoads] song and ‘Bark At The Moon‘ stuff, ’cause you’re able to play this stuff?’ I’m, like, ‘Great. I’m on it.'”

However, the gig’s scope changed dramatically. “I get a call, like, three or four days later, ‘Can we throw three more at you?'” Nuno recalled. “They go, ‘Oh, Wolfgang Van Halen just dropped out.'”

Bettencourt candidly described the immense pressure of tackling the iconic solos of Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee, noting that Wolfgang was “smart” to drop out.

“Nobody wants to play those f**king Randy Rhoads or Jake E. Lee solos,” Bettencourt stated. “Because if you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there and all your peers watching you, your career’s over.”

As the requests piled up until he was responsible for 12 songs, Bettencourt said he adopted an “all-in” mentality. “I was, like, ‘Well, I gotta f**king own this shit. I gotta put the time in… You gotta f**king get your s**t together.”

The pressure intensified when he learned the true scale of the event just 48 hours beforehand. “I didn’t even know it was even [gonna be] streamed [globally] at the time,” he admitted. “Then two days before, my manager was, like, ‘Oh, by the way, they’re streaming this globally.’ I’m, like, ‘What?'”

This was compounded by the realization that his rehearsals were being scrutinized by his fellow rock legends.

“You show up, and you don’t know that at all the rehearsals all those artists are gonna be there,” Nuno said. “And they’re just sitting on the floor watching you to see if you can actually play this s**t or not. And the phones are up.”

To meet the challenge, Bettencourt‘s preparation went far beyond simply memorizing the parts.

“I was in here for like weeks, for fucking four or five hours a day, standing up, performing the f**kers,” he detailed. “Not sitting in the chair, ’cause that’s easy, but like down low where it’s 20 times harder to play… ’cause it looks better.”

His commitment was validated by a call from producer Rick Beato after the show. “He goes, ‘One thing I noticed is you didn’t just learn the stuff. You performed it.’ And he goes, ‘That’s what stuck out for you more than everybody else.'”

For Bettencourt, it wasn’t about impressing anyone; it was about honoring the music. “I just wanted to respect the songs, know them and show up and know my s**t and f**king go all in… All I did was be me.”