Sharon Osbourne has axed a band from Black Sabbath‘s final gig lineup, claiming their manager was “making up bullshit lies”.
The legendary metal band will soon be reuniting for the first time in two decades – and for their last ever performance. For their huge ‘Back to the Beginning’ show on July 5, Black Sabbath will be headed over to Birmingham’s Villa Park with a stacked bill of names including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira and more in tow. A global livestream will also be made available on a pay-per-view basis.
However, with under a month to go, Sharon recently told Metal Hammer that she had kicked a band off the final line-up. “I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath,” she explained. “And it was probably the worst way I’ve felt in years.
“I don’t care what this person says about me, thinks about it, because he doesn’t know me,” she added. “And he’s now going around making up bullshit lies because I threw his band off the bill.”
Osbourne went on to claim she didn’t “care what people say”, continuing: “Because do you know what? I don’t love them. I care about people who love me, what they say about me. You can’t care what an industry says, because you don’t love them, so how can it hurt you? It doesn’t.”
So far, it’s unknown which band has dropped out of the lineup. Fans speculated Tool might have been booted off due to their name being removed on the website. However, it’s since been confirmed (via Loudwire) the band are participating, and their name has been re-added.
We recently spoke to Sharon and guitarist Tony Iommi about Black Sabbath’s final performance, with Sharon telling us about leaving behind the band’s giant legacy.
“You can’t say goodbye,” she told NME. “Look at what they leave – it’s a huge, great body of work that they’ve left for the world. As long as you’ve got that, it’s never goodbye. It’s there for eternity.”
She went on to say that husband Ozzy was currently feeling “very emotional” about the final show, and that it is “what he wants”. “He wants to say thank you to everybody,” she added. “He didn’t have that chance because of his illness, but now he does have the chance.”
Soloist and former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello will be serving as Music Director for the show, and will also appear in the line-up. He described the upcoming gig as set to be “the greatest heavy metal show ever”.
Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, Slash and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Alice In Chains, members of Limp Bizkit and KoRn are also slated to play the all-day affair.
Meanwhile, despite health concerns, Ozzy Osbourne has promised he will play the final show – but that the show won’t include any full sets with Sabbath or his solo band.
He told The Guardian that he would “do the best I can”, but that he “may be sitting down”.
“We’re only playing a couple of songs each. I don’t want people thinking, ‘We’re getting ripped off,’ because it’s just going to be a sample,” he said. “You’re going to get a few songs each by Ozzy and Sabbath.”
Elsewhere, Ozzy Osbourne has said he’s “giving 120 per cent” to get ready for the final show.
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