Share
23rd July 2025
12:13pm BST
Iconic heavy metal band Black Sabbath bid farewell to the world stage in a record-breaking gig at Birmingham’s Villa Park on Sunday night.
Fans were treated to a show-stopping final performance as metal groups from Metallica to Slayer came together to pay tribute to the genre’s greatest band.
In his last ever live performance, Black Sabbath’s lead man Ozzy Osbourne even made an appearance on stage in a black throne.
As well as providing metalheads with one last opportunity to experience Black Sabbath’s music, it has now been revealed that the gig also made £140 million for charity.
This is according to Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who was the event’s musical director.
Morello took to Instagram, writing: “We set out to not just create the greatest day in the history of heavy metal… THANKYOU @ozzyosbourne for trusting me to be the Musical Director of the “Back To The Beginning” show.”
“It was over a year of hard work but heavy metal was the music that made me love music and it was a labor of love.”
"We raised a ton of money for a great cause and so many great musicians & bands & fans all over the world paid tribute to the ALL TIME greats.”
All profits from the show are will be equally split between Birmingham Children's Hospital, Cure Parkinson's, and Midlands-based Acorns Children's Hospice.
Despite going on to tour stadiums right across the world, all four founding members of Black Sabbath are from the Aston area of Birmingham.
They used the final gig as an opportunity to give back to their home city.
Explore more on these topics:
