Tom Morello told Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath how much their music meant to him at farewell show
Tom Morello has reflected on curating Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell show, sharing how he told Ozzy Osbourne and the band what their music meant to him while orchestrating a historic celebration of heavy metal in their hometown of Birmingham.
Tom Morello got to tell Ozzy Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates what their music meant to him at the Back To The Beginning concert.
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist, 61, has reflected on the honour - and pressure - of curating Back To The Beginning, Black Sabbath’s all-star farewell concert, which also marked Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance.
Speaking to Whiplash on KLOS, Tom revealed he was hand-picked by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne to be the musical director for the historic event.
He said: “Heavy metal is the music that made me love music and Black Sabbath invented heavy metal.
“The goal was very, very simple from the beginning, is to make it the greatest and most important day in the history of heavy metal, and all reports are that we did pretty well.”
The Bulls on Parade hitmaker admitted that the experience also allowed him to share a personal message with his heroes.
He said: “I’ve never stopped being a fan from day one.
“I got to tell them how important their music was to me … over the course of the last year plus, [I tried] to make this show an important day for them in their hometown, but also for all the fans touched by their music over more than 50 years.”
Tom also shared his favourite moments from the day, including Steven Tyler and Ronnie Wood’s rendition of The Train Kept-A-Rollin’, Yungblud’s “showstopper” take on Changes, and his own turn playing Judas Priest’s Breaking The Law alongside K.K. Downing, Adam Jones of Tool, and Billy Corgan.
Held at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, the concert drew 40,000 fans in person and 5.8 million viewers online.
Ozzy performed a five-song solo set before reuniting with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for Sabbath classics including War Pigs and Paranoid.
Clearly emotional, Ozzy told the crowd: “You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
At the end of the night, fireworks lit the sky as a message read: “Birmingham Forever”.
The show proved to be a poignant farewell - Ozzy died on July 22, aged 76, from a heart attack, with his passing prompting an outpouring of tributes from across the rock world.
