In a new episode of Loudwire Nights, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Adam Jones spoke about getting to play at “Back to the Beginning” in Birmingham, England. The massive event, which was billed as Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s farewell concert, coincidentally took place just two weeks before Osbourne passed away on July 22nd at the age of 76.
“It was very devastating,” Jones said in regards to how he reacted to the news of Ozzy’s death.
“At the same time, it was kind of this gut feeling of harmony, that we had been a part of sending him off and so there was a little bit of … I don’t know. Sorry, it’s still kind of emotional, the whole legacy and how it affected each one of us,” he added.
Having grown up listening to Black Sabbath, both Keenan and Jones were overcome with nerves ahead of their performance at “Back to the Beginning.”
Tool Felt Uneasy
Despite Keenan having previously played in front of Ozzy – most recently at the legend’s 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony – the frontman still found himself anxious about the gig.
When asked if he was a little more at ease preparing for “Back to the Beginning” than he was for the Rock Hall, Keenan replied: “F*ck no.”
“The Rock Hall, he’s literally 20 feet away, starting at the side of my head while I f*ck up one his best ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ songs and then this one, it’s slightly out of my range, so I’m just gripping nuts to make sure I hit the notes. And the same thing here, he’s staring at my head,” he said.
Jones then chimed in, admitting just how nervous he was: “Actually, Justin [Chancellor] had to kind of center me before we were on stage. I really got anxiety, but almost in a good way … But it was great. I’ll never forget it. It’s a total core memory and an honor.”
Tool Performed “Hand of Doom”
In regards to why Tool decided to play “Hand of Doom” at the event, Keenan explained: “I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time. “It took Ozzy almost dying for me to get these guys to do it.”
Jones elaborated on Keenan’s comment: “Maynard had mentioned it years ago, off of some riff I was doing. He thought it sounded like Black Sabbath. Like, ‘Oh man, we should do a cover of “Hand of Doom.”’ And then when we were asked which song we wanted to do, we had some ideas, but we were kind of late in the game of joining and a lot of the songs were taken. Maynard said ‘Hand of Doom’ and it was available. Just weird how things work sometimes.”
