Ozzy Osbourne surprised the crowd at Monday night’s (Aug. 8) closing ceremonies for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in his home town of Birmingham, England when he took the stage with his legendary heavy metal brethren in Black Sabbath.
Performing alongside longtime musical foil guitarist Tony Iommi, as well as bassist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos, the band played their 1970 classic “Paranoid” for a crowd of 30,000 at Alexander Stadium. The gig was 73-year-old Osbourne’s first show since he underwent major neck surgery in June of this year to realign pins in his back and neck inserted after a 2019 fall at home.
The band posted video of the high-energy “Paranoid” performance, which ended with Ozzy bouncing in place and offering up a wide grin as the stage exploded in massive fireworks and he shouted “Birmingham forever!” The special appearance — which opened with Iommi teasing a bit of another band favorite, “Iron Man” — was the first time Osbourne and Iommi had performed on stage together since the final Black Sabbath show on Feb. 4, 2017 in Birmingham.
New grandpa Ozzy last played in public at the 2019 American Music Awards, where he performed a duet with Post Malone on “Take What You Want” and his last full-on gig was a headlining slot at the Ozzfest on New Year’s Eve 2018; Osbourne’s planned farewell No More Tours 2 solo outing kicked off in 2018 but has been delayed multiple times due to a series of medical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Osbourne’s upcoming album, Patient Number 9, is slated for release on Sept. 9. and will feature tracks with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Check out footage of the performance below.
Thank you #Birmingham #CommonwealthGames2022 pic.twitter.com/8s77r3g4cf
— BlackSabbath (@BlackSabbath) August 8, 2022
What a way to bring it all to an end!
Thank you, Birmingham. Thank you, thank you, thank you!@ozzyosbourne @tonyiommi @wakemanofficial#B2022 #ClosingCeremony #CommonwealthGames pic.twitter.com/2UoSFrqoeH
— Birmingham 2022 (@birminghamcg22) August 8, 2022
BIRMINGHAM FOREVER💛#Birmingham #CommonwealthGames #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/3JdR9Xspma
— Birmingham 2022 (@birminghamcg22) August 8, 2022
