This upcoming July, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne will take the stage for the final time in Birmingham, UK. The star-studded event will feature performances from Metallica, Slayer, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, Tool Soundgarden, Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler, Panrera, and many more.
One act missing from the lineup, however, is Judas Priest.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, frontman Rob Halford explained why the band will not be participating in the massive event later this year. While he admits he is “gutted” to be missing out, they unfortunately already had a show booked with Scorpions in Hannover, Germany to celebrate the latter band’s 60th anniversary.
“I had no idea it was happening,” he said of Black Sabbath’s final show. “We’ve known this guy Ossy Hoppe – he’s like a god in Germany for metal – [and] he came in to see me at one of our last shows and says, ‘Would you consider doing something really special and important? I’m putting on the Scorpions for their 60th anniversary, in their hometown. Would you work with the band?’”
“I was just like, ‘Done! We’ve got no plans it’s all good’,” Halford added. “It all got announced… and suddenly I get this phone call [from Sharon Osbourne, saying]: ‘Robbie, I know you’ve got this gig with Scorpions, but could you consider coming over to do a thing with Ozzy and the guys, he’d love to see you.’”
He continued, saying that Sharon had even offered to fly him to Birmingham and back on a private jet just so he could make a guest appearance at the event.
“My mind went to Phil Collins when he did Live Aid, where he got on the Concord from London to Philadelphia to play two gigs in two places,” he added, before saying that he turned down the offer because it felt like it could be “dangerous”.
“Even with a private plane, there’s a word called ‘technical’, where something could go wrong, or the weather that time of year could cause problems… I was absolutely gutted.”
