Ozzy Osbourne to perform with Black Sabbath for first time in 20 years

Even though Ozzy Osbourne’s fight with Parkinson’s illness prevents him from walking, he is “very emotional” about his impending farewell show with his fellow Black Sabbath members.

For the first time in 20 years, the Godfather of Heavy Metal will perform with the original Black Sabbath members, Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, during their farewell gig, The Back to the Beginning, on July 5 at Birmingham, England’s Villa Park.

Sharon Osbourne, his wife, recently told The Sun that “he’s very emotional about this and very happy to be coming back.”

“Parkinson’s is a progressive disease,” she added. “It’s not something you can stabilize. It affects different parts of the body and it’s affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it’s ever been.”

Osbourne also shared on his Sirius XM radio show Wednesday, per The Independent, “I have made it to 2025. I can’t walk, but you know what I was thinking over the holidays? For all my complaining, I’m still alive. I may be moaning that I can’t walk but I look down the road and there’s people that didn’t do half as much as me and didn’t make it.”

In recent years, Osbourne has had a number of health issues, including a fourth spinal surgery. In 2020, he also disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

When he retired from touring, he told Rolling Stone UK a few years ago that he was “f**king pissed off at” never having the “chance to say goodbye or thank you” to his followers.

“Being well enough to do one show where I can say, ‘Hi guys, thanks so much for my life,'” he continued. Thus, with the Black Sabbath reunion show, he’s finally bringing that to pass.

“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 on the upcoming concert, the Associated Press reported. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham forever.”

Other well-known metal bands including Alice in Chains, Slayer, and Metallica will also perform at the Back to the Beginning show