Earlier this year, Black Sabbath announced they will be performing as a band for the last time this coming July in their hometown of Birmingham, England. Due to Ozzy Osbourne’s ongoing health issues – including his battle with Parkinson’s disease – the concert will also be Ozzy’s last ever live show.
Aside from Black Sabbath, the event also boasts a massive lineup of other bands and artists, including Metallica, Tool, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Slayer, Pantera, Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Sammy Hagar, and many more.
During a recent episode of SiriusXM’s Ozzy Speaks, Ozzy Osbourne and co-host Billy Morrison spoke a bit about all of the bands set to perform at the gig.
“It’s all the people that we’ve influenced over the years,” Ozzy said.
When asked by Morrison how it feels to have influenced all of these great artists, he responded: “When we did the Ozzfest, bands would come to it and go, ‘Oh, man, Sabbath really was an influence.’ I’d go, ‘I think you’re just saying that.’ I’m very self-critical about people’s adoration… I’m one of these guys that goes, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll accept that now.’ [But] I’m not good at accepting.”
“[My son] Jack said to me, ‘Well, you’ve done it now,’ and I go, ‘No, I haven’t. I wanna make more music,” he added.
Morrison then praised Ozzy for appreciating the impact he and Black Sabbath had on the world of music, to which he replied:
“I remember a guy doing a news story. He goes, ‘You know, you and your solo work and Sabbath were the soundtrack of my life,’ and I go, ‘Really?’ But then The Beatles… When I met Paul McCartney, I nearly f*cking dropped dead. And there was a kid, he said to me when I was explaining that, and he goes, ‘Do you know, that’s what my experience of meeting you [is like].'”
