Black Sabbath's last show: Back to the Beginning at Villa Park, Birmingham, July 5, 2025

About the artist

Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968, close to Villa Park, where they would play their last show^[1]. The original four were Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums)^[2][3]. Their debut album, Black Sabbath, was recorded in a single day and released on Friday, February 13, 1970^[4][5]; it reached No. 8 in the UK^[6]. Later that year, "Paranoid" was a No. 4 single and Paranoid a No. 1 album^[7][8]. At 17, on his last day at a factory job, Iommi lost fingertips on his right hand in an accident; he made covers for them from a melted detergent bottle and kept playing. "Losing my fingertips was devastating – but in hindsight it created something," he has said^[9]. The band entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006^[10][1].

Why this was the last show

Black Sabbath had said goodbye once before. In February 2012, Bill Ward stepped away, saying he could not carry on without a contract he could sign; the others said they would keep recording without him but that the door was open^[11]. Their album 13 went to No. 1 in the UK in 2013^[12], and their farewell tour, The End, ran to 81 shows^[13].

It finished on February 4, 2017, at the Genting Arena in Birmingham (now BP Pulse Live)^[14], where Osbourne, Iommi and Butler, with Tommy Clufetos on drums, played to a sold-out crowd of 14,500^[15]. The 15-song set opened with "Black Sabbath" and closed, two hours later, with "Paranoid"^[13]. The next month the band posted "Black Sabbath 1968-2017" on Facebook, which NME reported as confirmation of the split, though Iommi said they were only giving up touring^[16]. He had not ruled out a one-off show^[13].

Osbourne carried on as a solo artist until February 2023, when he canceled his UK and European dates, saying he could no longer handle the travel that touring required. "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way," he wrote, adding that he was looking at ways to perform without going from city to city^[17].

On February 5, 2025, Back to the Beginning was announced for Villa Park on July 5. The four original members would play together for the first time in 20 years, and Osbourne would do a short solo set before joining them "for his final bow"^[18][19]. The four had last shared a stage at Ozzfest in 2005^[20]. "It's my time to go Back to the Beginning," Osbourne said, and Iommi called it "only fitting that it ends here, where it all began"^[21]. All profits would be split equally between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorns Children's Hospice^[18][21]. In an interview published five days before the show, Iommi told Music Week: "It's absolutely the end"^[14].

The Genting Arena show was the end at the time, but the band went on to play again under the same name. This archive therefore treats July 5, 2025, as Black Sabbath's last show, and files it under "Planned as the final show."

What is known about the day

Villa Park, a historic football ground in the Aston district of Birmingham^[22][21], sold out in under 16 minutes, with more than 150,000 people in the online queue^[14]. Reports put the crowd at about 40,000^[23], 42,000^[24] or about 45,000^[2].

The day began around 1 p.m. and ran for about ten hours^[25][2]. Tom Morello was musical director^[21], and the bill included Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Pantera and Tool^[26]. Steven Tyler and Ronnie Wood turned up as surprise guests^[27], and Elton John was among those who sent video messages^[23].

Osbourne appeared on a black throne that rose from beneath the stage^[23] and sang five songs from his solo career, from "I Don't Know" to "Crazy Train"^[26][2]. He told the crowd how happy he was to be on that stage^[1]. According to ITV, his set finished a little after 9 p.m., and Black Sabbath came on after 10^[25].

They played four songs: "War Pigs," "N.I.B.," "Iron Man" and "Paranoid"^[26][25]. Kerrang! noted that it was Ward's first show with the others in 20 years, and that "N.I.B." opened with Butler's wah-wah bass intro^[2]. Iommi later told Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM that the curfew at Villa Park was strict: the band had worked up seven songs, cut them to six and ended up playing four. Rehearsals, he said, had started with "Fairies Wear Boots" and then "Black Sabbath"^[28].

The last song was "Paranoid"^[26][25][23], and the night ended with fireworks and confetti^[25][26]. The show was streamed worldwide on pay-per-view^[26], with 48 hours of on-demand viewing afterward^[29]. According to Variety, 3 million people watched online^[24].

What the show left behind

Ozzy Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, at the age of 76, 17 days after the show^[30][31]. "Geezer, Bill and myself have lost our brother," Iommi wrote, noting that it came only weeks after Villa Park. Butler said he was glad they had got to do it one last time, back in Aston, and Ward signed off: "Never goodbye. Thank you, forever."^[32]

The three charities split the proceeds equally. Tom Morello first put the total at £140 million, a figure Sharon Osbourne has said was not accurate, and the charities say they have been told it will be lower^[33]. Researchers at the University of Birmingham estimated that the show brought £27.6 million into the West Midlands economy^[34].

The show is coming to cinemas as Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning, directed by Ben Wainwright-Pearce, for a limited run starting October 28, 2026^[35]. In Japan, a premiere on October 28 will be followed by a nationwide run in 58 cinemas from November 7; the film runs 2 hours 28 minutes^[36][37]. As of October 2026, no home video or streaming release has been announced^[35][36]. Scenes from the show also appear in Ozzy: No Escape From Now, a documentary about his last six years that premiered on Paramount+ on October 7, 2025^[38].

In September 2026, Iommi said he would like to play live now and then as a solo artist but had nothing planned^[39]. There has been no Black Sabbath show since that night.

The band that began in Aston in 1968 finished there 57 years later, with all four of them on stage.