As the highly anticipated “Back To The Beginning” concert — marking Black Sabbath‘s final performance — rapidly approaches this Saturday, July 5th, a surprising behind-the-scenes drama has come to light. Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne‘s wife and long-time manager, has revealed she was compelled to remove a major artist from the star-studded lineup due to financial demands that went against the event’s core charitable spirit.
Speaking to Billboard, Sharon Osbourne was unflinching about the reason for the decision: “They wanted to make a profit. And it’s not the time to make a profit. After the show, I’ll let everybody know who it was. I think people will be shocked.” This blunt statement sets the stage for a post-concert revelation, adding an element of intrigue to the historic event.
The concert, held at Villa Park in Birmingham, is being billed as more than just a farewell for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. It is primarily a heartfelt charity effort designed to give back to Birmingham, the very city that birthed the metal legends. Sharon has made it unequivocally clear that participants are expected to contribute in a spirit of unity and legacy, not for commercial gain.
This isn’t the first time Sharon has touched on the contentious withdrawal. Last month, she shared with Metal Hammer details of a heated dispute with the band’s manager, describing it as “probably the worst way I’ve felt in years.” She added: “And he’s now going around making up bulls**t lies because I threw his band off the bill.”
In the wake of online speculation regarding the mystery artist’s identity, Sharon has taken steps to quell some rumors. She explicitly stated that the removed act was not Iron Maiden, putting to rest speculation fueled by past tensions between the Osbournes and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, famously stemming from the 2005 Ozzfest incident. Similarly, despite fans’ online guesses after their name briefly appeared missing from livestream promotional materials, Tool has been confirmed to remain on the bill. Kelly Osbourne also took to Instagram to personally deny that Megadeth was the band in question, responding “Nope! Not him!” to a Metal Addicts‘ post. The fact that Wolfgang Van Halen also bowed out, but due to unrelated scheduling conflicts, further suggests the mystery artist’s removal occurred before the full lineup was comprehensively publicized.
Despite this behind-the-scenes friction, excitement for the farewell concert continues to mount. The event is projected to inject a substantial £20 million (approximately $27 million) into the local West Midlands economy, with an estimated 300,000 fans expected to converge on Birmingham this weekend. The rapid sell-out of tickets, with more than 150,000 people queuing online and tickets vanishing in under 16 minutes back in February, underscores the monumental anticipation. With the original Black Sabbath lineup — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward — reuniting for this final stage appearance, “Back To The Beginning” is poised to be one of the most significant events in heavy metal history.
