On July 5, 2025, the hallowed grounds of Villa Park in Birmingham bore witness to a moment that would echo through the annals of rock history. The “Back To The Beginning” concert, billed as Black Sabbath’s farewell, turned out to be much more: it became the final live performance of Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary Prince of Darkness, who died just over two weeks later at age 76. The event, packed with heavy metal royalty and attended by thousands of fans, was not only a powerful send-off for the band, but also a deeply personal goodbye from Ozzy to his hometown and the world.
According to Guitar.com, Geezer Butler, Sabbath’s bassist and longtime friend of Ozzy, noted a profound change in the frontman’s demeanor that night. “At the final show, he was much quieter than I’d ever known him,” Butler reflected. “Looking back now, I think he knew he wasn’t long for this world.” Butler’s words have resonated with fans, who now see the performance in a new, bittersweet light. Ozzy, known for decades as a hellraiser—biting the heads off bats and snorting lines of ants, as the legend goes—was, for once, subdued, contemplative, and determined to see the night through.
The concert itself was a celebration of heavy music’s greatest icons. Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, and Tool all took the stage before Black Sabbath’s climactic set. The finale featured both Ozzy’s solo band and the original Sabbath lineup, reuniting for one last time in the city where it all began. As Metal Hammer reported, the show was a who’s who of metal and hard rock, but conspicuously absent were any members of Led Zeppelin. The reason, it turns out, was a personal one.
Robert Plant, Zeppelin’s iconic frontman, revealed to Mojo magazine that he’d received an invitation from Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi to attend and even perform at the show. Plant declined, explaining, “I said, Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come. I just can’t. I’m not saying that I’d rather hang out with Peter Gabriel or Youssou N’Dour, but I don’t know anything about what’s going on in that world now, at all. I don’t decry it, I’ve got nothing against it. It’s just I found these other places that are so rich.”
Plant’s musical journey over the past decades has led him away from hard rock and into the realms of folk, world music, and country. His current band, Saving Grace, is set to release a self-titled album on September 26, 2025—a project he says is closer to the spirit of Bert Jansch than Axl Rose. “When people say that I don’t like Stairway To Heaven, I just don’t like the idea of it,” Plant explained to Mojo. “These iconic things—they’re just what they are. But you know, most people have missed some of the best Zeppelin stuff. For Your Life, on Presence. Achilles' Last Stand! Just extraordinary that three people and a singer can do that.”
Despite the absence of Zeppelin, the energy at Villa Park was electric. For Ozzy, the show was more than a concert—it was a mission. After years of illness that kept him off the road for six or seven years, according to Butler, Ozzy was determined to say a proper farewell. “He was emotional, it was so important to him to say goodbye after illness had prevented him from touring,” Butler said. “He wanted to see his fans one final time, play with his own band and with Sabbath one last time.” Tony Iommi echoed this sentiment in an interview with ITV News: “I think he really just held out to do that show. Just after [the show], he’d done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”
Ozzy’s death on July 22, 2025, was attributed to a heart attack, with his death certificate later listing acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, and complications from Parkinson’s disease as contributing causes. He died at his home in Buckinghamshire, having only recently returned to the UK after years living in the United States. Butler recalled, “Ozzy was looking forward to spending his days back in England.”
The outpouring of grief and respect was immediate and heartfelt. Aston Villa FC, the football club Ozzy grew up supporting as a boy in nearby Aston, paid tribute at their first home game of the season against Newcastle on August 16. The teams walked onto the pitch to footage of Ozzy performing “Crazy Train” at the Back To The Beginning concert. Bostin’ Brass, who had played at Ozzy’s funeral procession, performed brass versions of his solo and Sabbath hits in the stadium’s fan zone. The club opened a book of condolences in their store, and a mural titled “Ozzy Forever” was commissioned on the wall of the Holte Pub, just outside the stadium. The matchday programme’s cover featured an illustration of Ozzy, clad in a No.9 Villa shirt, ascending the steps to the ground—a poignant image for fans and family alike.
“I was born in Aston and spent my childhood watching carloads of people going to the Villa football matches,” Ozzy told The Athletic in 2024. His deep roots in the community made the tributes all the more meaningful. Villa players have often walked out to Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and “Crazy Train” in the past, and in 2024, Adidas released a limited-edition Villa shirt featuring the names of Ozzy and Geezer Butler. “My absolute favourite colours in the world have always been purple and black,” Ozzy said in a statement at the time. “It’s been Black Sabbath colours for over 50 years. Tony, Geezer, Bill and I look at this as a huge honour. UP THE VILLA!!”
For those closest to Ozzy, the loss is personal and profound. Tony Iommi said, “Geezer, Bill [Ward] and me have lost our best friend,” while Butler wrote on Instagram, “Goodbye dear friend—thanks for all those years—we had some great fun. 4 kids from Aston—who’d have thought, eh? So glad we got to do it one last time, back in Aston.”
Ozzy Osbourne’s final act was not just another rock show. It was a homecoming, a farewell, and a celebration of a life that changed music forever. As tributes continue to pour in from every corner of the globe, it’s clear that the Prince of Darkness has left a legacy that will endure—louder and prouder than ever before.