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Ozzy Osbourne is set to reunite with his Black Sabbath bandmates for what will be his final performance – “the greatest heavy metal show ever”.
The announcement was made by the star’s wife Sharon Osbourne and bandmate Tony Iommi at Villa Park in Birmingham, which will host the gig on 5 July.
The Back To The Beginning show will be the heavy metal band’s first performance together in 20 years, with original stars Osbourne, Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.
It will also feature sets from acts including Metallica, Slayer, Alice In Chains and a “supergroup of musicians” including Duff McKagan and Slash (Guns ‘n’ Roses), Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine).
Osbourne, 76, who has faced health problems including Parkinson’s disease in recent years, will play his own short set before joining his bandmates “for his final bow”.
Profits will be shared between Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn’s Children’s Hospice, organisers said.
“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning, time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne said in a statement. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love.
“Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham forever.”