Nearly 16 months later, Sharon Osbourne says that watching Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning — the film of the historic July 5, 2025 concert that was both acts’ swan song before Ozzy Osbourne’s death 17 days later at age 76 — is still “very hard” for her.
The nearly two-and-a-half-hour film arrives in more than 15,000 theaters in 132 countries on Oct. 28, via Trafalgar Releasing and Mercury Studios.
“They’ve been working on the film for a long time and I had to see a lot of edits,” Sharon, who attended premieres in both Los Angeles and London, tells Billboard via phone shortly before the latter. “At first I couldn’t; my son (Jack Osbourne) had to do it for me because I couldn’t face doing it.
“It’s very hard, because to see (Ozzy) on the big screen, and so close up, you see every pore on his face and every expression in his eyes, and it’s just very, very emotional. And of course his strength of character, to be able to have done that at that point in his life…. He was in agony and had trouble breathing. It’s amazing what he did to actually get through it.”
Held at Villa Park in Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, England, Back to the Beginning was a 10-hour celebration that featured a who’s-who of hard rock and heavy metal Osbourne/Sabbath acolytes — including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Yungblud (whose rendition of Sabbath’s “Changes” won a Grammy Award for best rock performance earlier this year) and more.
The show was going to go on no matter what, but Sharon says Osbourne’s participation wasn’t certain until he emerged from below the stage seated in a throne — as he was during his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction as a solo artist in 2024.
“There were times when he was so sick he said, ‘I know I’m never gonna make this. I can’t do it,’” Sharon recalls. Two weeks before the concert, meanwhile, British doctors told Ozzy — who battled Parkinson’s, emphysema and other health issues — that, “if he did (the show) he would probably die of a heart attack — which he did (on July 22).” But he maintained his resolve to be there no matter what.
“The thing is, it wasn’t like they were saying to him, ‘If you don’t do this show you’re going to live a long, lovely life.’ They weren’t saying that,” Sharon explains. “They were saying, ‘You could die sooner than you would.’ We all knew it wasn’t going to be long. So Ozzy said, ‘To have a few more months? I’ve had an unbelievable life, and I want to do this show. This is the way I want to go out. I want to do my show.’ I totally accepted his decision. He’d been in agony for seven years, so he deserved to have that one more chance to (perform live) and say goodbye to his fans.”
‘Spending More Time With Him’
Turning Back to the Beginning into a film was a no-brainer, of course. Tim Van Someren accumulated some 200 hours of footage on the day, using more than 20 cameras and also conducting interviews with all of the participants. Ben Wainwright-Pearce (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and The Eras Tour — The Final Show) was tasked with sculpting it all into a feature-length piece, which took several months.
“One of the first things Sharon told us was she wanted everybody who gave their time (to the concert) to be in the film,” Wainwright-Pearce tells Billboard. “So you’ve got 10 or 11 hours of (performances) to truncate down. It wasn’t an easy task.”
Wainwright-Pearce decided to spread Osbourne’s five songs throughout the film rather than in a chunk. “I just felt like it was important to make sure we were with Ozzy throughout the day, so it felt like you were spending more time with him,” the director says. “To me it was important to just keep revisiting him and reminding everyone why we’re there and…just feel that connection. ‘Cause you can just see the joy in Ozzy’s face throughout the performance.”
And that’s how Osbourne felt, according to Sharon.
“He was so happy,” she says. “He was just so overwhelmed…and just in awe of everybody that turned up. He was on a high until the day he died, he really was.”
Flying High Again
The Back to the Beginning film also incorporates commentary from the participants — many of whom were re-interviewed in the wake of Osbourne’s death. Sharon and Jack Osbourne’s interviews were the last two to be done, according to the filmmakers.
“That was obviously very moving,” Wainwright-Pearce acknowledges. “It was a quite sensitive moment for everyone, emotional and engaging, so it was tricky to navigate.” Film producer and Mercury Studios exec Daniel Seligman adds that, “You have this sort of responsibility — Ben felt it, I certainly felt it — where you’re dealing with the legacy of this beloved individual who has inspired so many and contributed so much. You really just feel the responsibility of it, but also a sense of privilege and gratitude to even be involved in something like this.”
Never Say Die
Following Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning’s theatrical run, Seligman says Mercury Studios will be releasing a home media box set on Dec. 11 that will feature full versions of some of the performances that were truncated for the big screen release, as well as an audio companion. The parties have “talked about” releasing the entire day, according to Seligman, but no determination has been made yet.
Meanwhile, other Osbourne projects are on the horizon. Sharon confirms producer Andrew Watt‘s recent comments that another Black Sabbath album was being discussed, but drummer Bill Ward, who took part in Back to the Beginning, was not able to commit to it. There are, however, some Osbourne solo songs that were recorded, which Sharon says will be part of a biopic that’s in pre-production.
A script has been written for that, she says, and the Osbourne camp is now “going out looking for directors as we speak.” She also notes that there are “two actors I have in mind” to play Ozzy, but she won’t identify who they are.
“With somebody like Ozzy, not to do a movie on his life would be ridiculous,” she says. “There are very few artists who have had a career like him, and what he came from to become world-renowned is just a great story…perfect for a movie.” Sharon is also planning to release more information about the return of Ozzfest — with 2027 dates planned in the U.K. and U.S. – soon.
One thing she’s not revealing, however, is the identity of the band that was disinvited from Back to the Beginning, ostensibly for requesting payment while everyone else was doing it for free. Though she’d said she’d disclose who that was afterward, “I have enough sh-t on my plate right now to release that,” she says — adding that she does plan to at some point in the future.
