In the world of hard rock and heavy metal, few names command as much reverence as Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and Robert Plant. Over the past months, the music industry has witnessed a series of dramatic events: a legendary farewell concert, a poignant absence, and the final curtain call for one of rock’s most iconic frontmen. These developments have sent ripples through fan communities and the business side of music alike, reshaping the legacies and financial fortunes of some of the genre’s most influential figures.
When Black Sabbath announced their “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert in Birmingham, England, on July 5, 2025, it was billed as a historic gathering—a celebration of a band that helped define heavy metal. The event saw a parade of rock luminaries in attendance, but one notable figure was missing: Robert Plant, the legendary voice of Led Zeppelin. According to MOJO magazine, Plant received a personal invitation from Sabbath’s guitarist, Tony Iommi, but chose not to attend.
Plant’s decision wasn’t born from animosity or indifference. Instead, it reflected his evolution as an artist and his candid self-assessment. “I said, Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come,” Plant told MOJO. “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.”
Over the past several decades, Plant has charted a new course, drifting away from the thunderous riffs of Zeppelin toward the more nuanced realms of folk and roots music. He’s released two albums with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and formed several groups—Band of Joy, Sensational Space Shifters, and most recently, Saving Grace. With Saving Grace, Plant has found a sense of creative freedom that he cherishes. “We’ve got to be very careful now that we make sure it stays closer to Bert Jansch than Axl Rose,” he remarked, referencing the folk legend and the Guns N’ Roses frontman as cultural touchstones for his current musical path.
Saving Grace’s approach is deliberate: reinterpretations of century-old music, performed in intimate venues, and a conscious decision to leave Led Zeppelin’s greatest hits off the setlist. For Plant, those songs are sacred artifacts of another era. “How can they be related to now, where do they fit? They fit as a sort of memoir,” he told MOJO. “I just don’t like the idea of it. These iconic things — they’re just what they are… to do it for the sake of it was never what Zeppelin was about.”
As Plant and Saving Grace prepare to release their debut album, Saving Grace, on September 26, 2025, anticipation is building. Pre-orders are already open, and the group has previewed their takes on Low’s “Everybody’s Song” and the traditional spiritual “Gospel Plough.” A North American tour is set for the fall, with stops in cities from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Los Angeles, California.
While Plant is carving out his own path, the heavy metal world was rocked by another seismic event: the death of Ozzy Osbourne on July 22, 2025, at age 76. Just weeks before, Osbourne had taken the stage for his final concert—a moment that, in hindsight, marked the end of an era. The impact of his passing was immediate and profound, not just emotionally but commercially.
According to Billboard, sales and streaming activity for both Osbourne’s solo catalog and Black Sabbath’s back catalog soared in the aftermath. The numbers are staggering: from 2022 to 2024, Black Sabbath’s recorded master catalog averaged $10.5 million annually in U.S. revenue, driven by 455,000 album consumption units and a whopping 1.1 billion global streams. Osbourne’s solo catalog was not far behind, averaging $7.6 million annually with 435,000 U.S. album consumption units and 794 million global streams.
The two weeks following the “Back to the Beginning” concert saw both catalogs nearly double their activity. Osbourne’s catalog, in particular, surged by 129.4%, averaging nearly 17,000 album units per week. Black Sabbath’s catalog grew by 96%, with 18,000 units weekly. But the most dramatic spike came after Osbourne’s death. In the fortnight ending July 31, 2025, his solo catalog’s weekly album consumption units exploded by 919.7%, averaging nearly 74,000 units. Black Sabbath’s catalog also saw significant growth, with a 415.5% increase to nearly 48,000 units weekly.
Behind these numbers lies a complex story of legacy, loyalty, and the enduring power of music. While Black Sabbath’s international popularity—measured by global streaming strength—gives them an edge in revenue, the U.S. market tells a more nuanced tale. According to Billboard, when global revenue is excluded, Black Sabbath and Osbourne’s average annual revenue from U.S. recorded-music activity is nearly identical: $4.8 million versus $4.3 million, respectively.
There’s also the matter of how these earnings are divided. Black Sabbath’s payday is split among its members, with Osbourne receiving a share during his tenure as frontman. In contrast, Osbourne’s solo royalties are more concentrated, minus payments to his backing musicians. Since 1991, Osbourne has released eight studio albums—including 2022’s Patient No. 9—while Black Sabbath has released four. Osbourne’s relentless output and media presence, including his reality TV series The Osbournes, have helped him outpace Black Sabbath in U.S. album consumption units since 1991: 22.7 million to 14.3 million.
Globally, however, Black Sabbath remains a juggernaut. Since 2018, when Luminate began tracking streams worldwide, the band’s catalog has generated 7.1 billion streams, compared to Osbourne’s 5.7 billion as of July 31, 2025. These figures underscore the band’s enduring global appeal, even as Osbourne’s solo career remains a powerhouse in its own right.
The interplay between nostalgia and reinvention is palpable in these stories. Plant’s refusal to revisit Zeppelin’s greatest hits, his embrace of folk traditions, and his small-venue ethos stand in stark contrast to the stadium-sized legacy of Black Sabbath and the commercial machinery that drives posthumous sales surges. Yet, there’s a shared thread: a reverence for the music, a desire to honor its origins, and an acknowledgment that the past, while powerful, is not always a road to be retraveled.
As fans prepare for Saving Grace’s debut and continue to stream the classics of Sabbath and Osbourne, the music world is reminded that legends may depart, but their influence and artistry remain—etched in vinyl, encoded in streams, and alive in the hearts of millions.
