2 weeks ago
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Wolfgang Van Halen was announced as part of the original lineup for the upcoming “Back to the Beginning” concert featuring the final performances of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Unfortunately, he has since had to back out due to his band Mammoth’s commitment as a support act on Creed’s summer tour.
In an interview with the radio station WRIF Detroit, Wolfgang explained, “I, unfortunately, had to back out because the Creed tour starts the day after, and I wouldn’t be able to pull it off — unfortunately. I’m very excited to watch it, but I unfortunately had to back out.”
The “Back to the Beginning” concert takes places July 5th at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, while Creed’s North American summer tour kicks off July 9th in Lexington, Kentucky. So, while it’s not exactly the next day, it is just a few days after.
Wolfgang was then asked who of Ozzy’s guitarists is his favorite, and responded, “I’m really bad at picking, ’cause that almost implies you don’t like another one in comparison. And I feel like Randy [Rhoads] was amazing, but you can’t not give cred to [Black Sabbath’s] Tony [Iommi] being the legend and groundbreaking genre creator he was — and is. So I love ’em all. That’s not the answer you wanna hear.”
While Wolfgang won’t be there, the “Back to the Beginning” concert will feature a who’s who of rock and metal acts, including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Pantera, Slayer, Mastodon, Gojira, and more.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang’s Mammoth will be on the road for most of the remainder of 2025. In addition to supporting Creed this summer, Mammoth will also embark on a headlining US tour of their own this fall. Tickets to Mammoth’s upcoming shows are available here.
See Wolgang Van Halen talking about backing out of the Sabbath concert, among other topics, in the interview below.
English (US) · 