Guns N’ Roses, Tool, producer/musician Andrew Watt, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid have been added to the lineup for Back to the Beginning, the massive final Black Sabbath concert on July 5 in the latter band’s hometown of Birmingham, England.
Also new to the bill are actor Jason Momoa, former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson and Ugly Kid Joe’s Whitfield Crane. The show will mark Sabbath’s first appearance with their core lineup of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward since 2005.
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Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello will be the musical director, and promises it will be “the greatest heavy metal show ever” thanks to appearances by Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Alice in Chains and Gojira.
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Faith No More’s Mike Bordin, Ghost’s Papa V Perpetua, Sammy Hagar and Wolfgang Van Halen will also make appearances.
Osbourne, 76, has been plagued with health problems since his last proper concerts in 2018 and is currently unable to walk. Earlier this month, he said on his SiriusXM radio show that fans should not expect him to play a full set with Sabbath beyond “little bits and pieces” and that he is “doing what I can, where I feel comfortable.”
“I am trying to get back on my feet,” he said. “When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things. For all of my complaining, I’m still alive.”
Proceeds from Back to the Beginning will benefit Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
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