Back to the Beginning at Villa Park - July 5th, 2025

Words and images by Gee & CJ

History was made on the 5th of July 2025, as tens of thousands flooded into Villa Park from around the world to witness what was always destined to be a pivotal moment in heavy metal history, and music as a whole. Ozzy Osbourne’s grand farewell, Black Sabbath’s last roar. Back to the Beginning.

The lineup for this event was a thing of dreams, with metal icons such as Anthrax, Mastodon, Tool, Pantera, Slayer, and Metallica, amongst many others. All delivered an emotionally charged performance that effortlessly solidified their right to be on that stage. Grunge behemoths Alice in Chains, the undeniable talent of Halestorm, and the forever loved Guns n Roses also made their presences clear, with their own evidently flawlessly rehearsed covers of well-loved songs such as “It’s Alright”, “Fairies Wear Boots”, and “Perry Mason”.

Tom Morello’s All-Stars saw many legendary musicians all taking to the stage to celebrate some of the greatest music to be released, by Sabbath and Ozzy, and also by other bands too. With covers of songs such as “Shot in the Dark” and “Sweet Leaf” by Supergroup A, everybody on the stage came together with such an admiration for each other that only a band like Black Sabbath could do.

From Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme bowing to Jake E. Lee – best known for playing in Ozzy’s band – after some crowd love for being slightly late, to the appreciation of newer music by getting drummer Sleep Token ii up on stage, and some unbelievably vocals from Lzzy Hale, David Draiman, and Whitfield Crane, a stage crowd like this would never be seen again. Loved friend of the Osbournes Yungblud took the stage for a rendition of “Changes” that forced daggers into hearts, raw vocals and passion clear from the first breath in. It captivated the audience with ease and isn’t letting go any time soon.

The second supergroup saw another group of iconstaking the stage, after an impressive “drum off” with Travis Barker of Blink 182, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Danny Carey of Tool. Rudy Sarzo, legendary bassist known for working with Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and his current band Quiet Riot amongst others, kept the crowd’s attention with his iconic stage presence throughout this entire set, and performed effortlessly to keep the guitarists in rhythm. Although with appearances of incredible players such as KK Downing, formerly of Judas Priest, and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, it was more so a beautiful accompaniment of musicians who were clearly there for the love of the craft.

The return of Tom Morello and Nuno Bettencourt from the first group helped with the consistency of the show, although the blast of Billy Corgan and Steven Tyler’s vocals were nothing to be upset about hearing, doing every song they played justice and more, alongside a few respected numbers from Sammy Hagar and Papa V Perpetua of Ghost.

When Ozzy finally took the stage, time stood still at Villa Park. The Prince of Darkness arose from the stage with an almighty throne, hands raised to greet the fans that did it all. His joy radiated out, and was given right back to him in the form of absolute worship. His performance of his solo career left nothing to be desired, with the gritty and heavy “Mr Crowley” highlighting the forever missed talent of the late Randy Rhoads, a solo performed with love and respect by guitar god Zakk Wylde. Not to overshadow the slightly more playful rendition recorded by beloved Jack Black, alongside Tom Morello’s son on guitar.

Randy was clearly so well loved by his bandmates back before his unfortunate death, and this was evident by the rare footage shared by his sister Kathy Rhoads, who also recorded a beautifully heart wrenching video, discussing how cared for and appreciated the rockstar was. We know Randy’s spirit was present, watching that concert with such pride and joy for everyone there that he shared a stage with, and all the insanely talented bands that have come from his influence, alongside Black Sabbath’s.

An emotional rendition of “Mama I’m Coming Home” left us all bleeding, Osbourne meaning every word he said. He was home. And his family greeted him with unconditional open arms. The set ended with “Crazy Train”, bringing it back to the unhinged Ozzy we know and love, with the known and absolutely killer bass line bounced by the great Mike Inez.

Of course, this was then followed by the legends themselves: Black Sabbath. Almost 12 hours into the stadium doors opening, the last group, truthfully the most important act of the day, took to the stage, and put on a performance to remember. Every single song was met by absolutely everyone shouting the memorisable lyrics right back to the Prince of Darkness himself and even singing their own versions of the unbelievable Tony Iommi’s most recognised riffs, guitar melodies that have changed the way everyone saw the electric guitar, and have inspired millions all around the world, old and young, in their entire lifetime.

With a short but powerful four-song-setlist that was likely no surprise to anyone in that stadium, the first riffs of “War Pigs” immediately had everyone on their feet, jumping and dancing, cheering and chanting, with encouragement from Ozzy of course. The metal god undoubtably wished to be down there celebrating with everyone else, up on his feet jumping around that stage, but the fact of him simply being there was enough for everybody.

That then effortlessly slid into “N.I.B”, introduced by a fantastic bass fill by Geezer Butler, who is recognised as a bass god by so many people, including ourselves. Alongside the unreal Bill Ward, who creates a fantastic heartbeat for the band, the two make a rhythm section that changed the way that music was written forever, and a performance that showed how much love and passion this whole band has forever wanted to give to their fans.

Followed up by “Iron Man”, this was of course well taken by the entirety of the crowd, who clapped and screamed along, creating a powerful statement especially of the love for Tony’s iconic riff as they mimicked the sounds he sung with those strings. A moment to bring everyone together: it was impossible to be anything but grateful for everyone around you, appreciating all the same things as you were.

To finish the night, a shock to nobody, Sabbath performed “Paranoid” as their final song ever, as was almost always the case for all of their sets over the years. It was a true nod to their past, bringing over 50 years of music loving to one singular night, and bringing together everyone in Villa Park, and the surrounding area of people who had flooded the outside of the stadium, together one last time as the sun had finally set.

The show finished out with emotions high all around, Ozzy’s final words bringing tears to anybody who wasn’t already crying at this being the end, and a beautiful fireworks show to really solidify how much of a celebration this was. Because really, this wasn’t the end: the end will never come, as Black Sabbath’s legacy will be told forever, shared to children, grandchildren, and all generations to come.

From Gee:

“Seeing Anthrax live again was a dream for me, and they did not miss the bar here! Although I was disappointed their set was only two songs long, Indians is a classic that I love to hear, and their cover of “Into the Void” killed the game. Halestorm is one of my favourite bands, so seeing them perform on such a big stage was a treat; not to mention getting the double feature of Lzzy in the first supergroup was so much fun. Seeing Jake E Lee was also a dream come true for me, he is one of my favourite guitarists ever, the work he did for Ozzy was absolutely incredible. Due to his injuries since his last live performance, I wasn’t sure I would ever get to see him live, so I’m so grateful for this opportunity.

“As a bassist and huge late 80s Whitesnake fan, seeing Rudy Sarzo was also a total highlight of the show: with his energy when he performs, you’d never think he’s in his 70s, his stage presence is just so fun to watch, and everything he played was slick and well perfected. He played with some awesome people too, seeing him on stage with legends like Downing and Wood was so cool, and of course Steven Tyler, who was so awesome to see considering I thought Aerosmith disbanding would be the last opportunity.

“Seeing Ozzy in real life really had me in tears almost immediately. I’ve grown up on his band and Sabbath, and the whole performance was top notch in my opinion. Sabbath played absolutely perfectly, nothing sounded out of line, and I’ve never heard such a connected audience in my life before. Truly up there with one of the best moments of my life – I had the most fantastic time.”

From CJ:

“The first surprise of the day coming from Sid Wilson DJing the entire show was such an exciting part for me, as a life-long Slipknot fan, seeing him up there on that big stage, keeping the vibe up for the whole stadium throughout many of the intervals was the most perfect little addition. And alongside Sid, a bucket list artist for me was absolutely Alice in Chains: Jerry Cantrell is an absolute beast, hearing “Man in a Box” live will forever be a staple moment for my life.

“I will never forget the moment I saw that Steven Tyler had been announced for the lineup, and now, being able to say that I’ve seen him live is so awesome. Especially the fact that he got to share a stage with Rudy, who I absolutely adore, and seeing them play “Whole Lotta Love” was like, the best crossover moment ever for me. This lineup was also a good pick-up moment after what I thought was quite frankly a disappointing performance from Sammy Hagar. His singing just wasn’t up to the standard of everyone else, and he had some decent crowd work, but other than that, his performance was particularly lacklustre, especially when put up against a vocal giant like Steven Tyler.

“Of course, seeing Ozzy and Sabbath for the first and last time was a special experience I will never forget. The whole performance made me feel like I was somewhere I was meant to be, with the way it brought everyone together, no matter any opinions on previous acts. We were all there for one thing, and we all appreciated it an unbelievable amount. Everything was perfect. It still feels so surreal knowing I was there.”

Every single set that night was adorned with the same sentiment. Everyone made sure to thank Ozzy, to thank Black Sabbath for every bit of influence they had on music. “Without them, there would be no us”. The love and passion never left the stadium, artists and fans alike confessing physically and vocally just what this meant to them, what it meant to be there sharing Ozzy’s final performance with him. It was a pure display of admiration and celebration. The perfect last words: nothing left to be said.

One thing is for sure. The shockwaves and Ozzy’s final bow, of Sabbath’s mighty finale will be felt until the end of time.