Sharon Osbourne has revealed that she removed a band from the lineup of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s highly anticipated Back to the Beginning concert, set to take place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Osbourne explained that the removal followed a contentious dispute with the band’s manager, leading her to feel “the worst way I’ve felt in years.”
“I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath,” Osbourne explained. “And it was probably the worst way I’ve felt in years. And I don’t care what this person says about me, thinks about it, because he doesn’t know me. And he’s now going around making up bulls— lies because I threw his band off the bill.”
While speculation initially arose that the band in question was Iron Maiden after she clashed with Bruce Dickinson during the 2005 edition of Ozzfest, Osbourne swiftly dismissed this.
“Oh god, no. Ozzy only has respect for the guys in Maiden,” she said, clarifying that Ozzy was unaware of Dickinson’s behavior until after the incident. “I never told him, until the night that it happened when it was the last show, and he just looked at me and goes, ‘You’re terrible.’”
Speculation also briefly pointed toward Tool due to their name initially missing from promotional materials for the event’s global livestream. However, it was later confirmed that the omission was merely a design oversight, and Tool is still set to perform.
Osbourne emphasized her indifference to industry criticism, noting, “I don’t care what people say. Because do you know what? I don’t love them. I care about people who love me, what they say about me. You can’t care what an industry says, because you don’t love them, so how can it hurt you? It doesn’t.”
The Back to the Beginning concert is set to be an iconic moment in rock history, featuring the final live performances from both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.
In May, Ozzy spoke to Billy Morrison on their SiriusXM “Ozzy Speaks” show to break down what he’s doing to gear up for the July 5 Back to the Beginning show in his hometown.
“I haven’t done any physical work for the last seven, six and a half, seven years,” Ozzy said, promising that “by hook or by crook, I’m gonna make it [to the stage at Villa Park],” where Black Sabbath’s final gig will find them joined by an all-star roster that will also include Metallica, Mastodon, Anthrax, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Slayer and a supergroup featuring members of Guns N’ Roses, the Smashing Pumpkins, Limp Bizkit, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine and many more.
“I’ve got this trainer guy who helps people get back to normal,” he said of the intense training he’s undergoing following a rough several years that included spinal surgery and a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. “It’s hard going, but he’s convinced that he can pull it off for me. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.”
