In what would tragically become a farewell performance ahead of the passing of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, drummer Bill Ward reflected on the legendary band’s final concert in an emotional interview with Mike Stark of the LA Radio Sessions.
The interview, which aired on 99.1 KLBP-FM in Long Beach, CA, captured Ward’s raw sentiments about the powerful and symbolic Back To The Beginning show held on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Ward opened up about the carefully selected setlist, explaining that the band focused on what they all could confidently perform together. “It was a common denominator of what we thought we might be able to play,” Ward said.
“There was a couple of other songs that we tried. [It] didn’t quite work out. I can think it was [about] finding the most popular songs — actually, popular is not a very good word, ’cause there’s probably a lot of songs that are popular. Definitive — yeah, let’s go with definitive, as being the most definitive songs that work for all of us, all of us being the band members.”
As the final notes echoed through Villa Park, Ward’s thoughts were with his bandmates and fans, rather than the significance of the moment. He recalled the immediate impulse to check on Ozzy Osbourne, who had been bravely performing despite his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Ward also made sure Geezer Butler and Iommi were okay, and then turned to the crowd.
“My feeling, at that point, was really to get off the drum [riser]. Really, that’s what I was thinking about, and to see if Ozzy was okay. That’s what I was thinking about. And making sure Geezer and Tony are heads up. And then I wanted to see the audience, so I went out and I applauded the audience. So that’s what was on my mind. And I looked behind me, and my family was there, and I applauded my family and people that were around me on the stage. I had a lot of staff members there, and I applauded them.
“So it was about just basically honoring all the people that had been listening. That’s exactly what I was doing. It wasn’t really anything that was deeper or mature or anything. I just wanted to say thanks to everybody. There was a lot of musicians there that I know, and I was applauding them as well. I love them very much. As you know, we’ve had our radio show for many, many years, so we’ve met a lot of artists.”
Ozzy Osbourne began the night with a powerful five-song solo set, backed by a lineup of musical heavyweights: guitarist Zakk Wylde, bassist Mike Inez, keyboardist Adam Wakeman, and drummer Tommy Clufetos. Drawing from his iconic 1980 solo debut Blizzard Of Ozz, Ozzy delivered searing renditions of “I Don’t Know”, “Mr. Crowley”, “Suicide Solution”, and the fan-favorite “Crazy Train”. He also performed the heartfelt ballad “Mama, I’m Coming Home” from his 1991 album No More Tears.
Seated on a black throne due to his health condition, Ozzy appeared visibly moved during his performance, telling the crowd, “You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
After his solo set, Osbourne was joined on stage by Black Sabbath‘s original members for a four-song finale that echoed through the venue like a call from the heavens. Together, the reunited icons delivered thunderous performances of “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, “N.I.B.” and the timeless anthem “Paranoid”, sending fans into an emotional frenzy.
As the final chords rang out, Ozzy told the audience, “It’s the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” A surprise cake was presented to him as fireworks exploded overhead, punctuating a night already written in rock history.
The show closed with a message projected on the big screen, one that will stay with fans forever: “Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever.” As fireworks lit up the Birmingham sky, fans knew they had just witnessed not only the end of a concert, but the final chapter of a heavy metal era that changed music forever.
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.
