After surviving decades of rock excess, health struggles, and global fame, Ozzy Osbourne prepares for his final live performance this Saturday. The 76-year-old music legend will reunite with original Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward for the first time in two decades at Birmingham's Villa Park stadium.
Dubbed "Back to the Beginning," the historic show marks a homecoming for the band that pioneered heavy metal. The venue stands just blocks from Osbourne's childhood home in Aston, where he once charged football fans to guard their cars. The lineup features Metallica, Slayer, and members of Guns N' Roses and Rage Against the Machine - hailed by many as the greatest metal bill ever assembled.
"They started from nothing to become global superstars," said lifelong Birmingham fan Joe Porter, 47, while viewing new city murals honoring the band. "The sound they created with basic equipment felt like twenty musicians on stage."
Osbourne's journey from slaughterhouse worker to "Prince of Darkness" remains etched in music lore. After placing a band advert in a record shop, the founding members developed their signature sound: thunderous rhythms, distorted riffs, and dark fantasy themes that defined a genre. Their cultural impact spans generations, evidenced by crowds at Birmingham Museum's "Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero" exhibition.
"They started the year my mum was born," said 21-year-old metal enthusiast Byron Howard-Maarij. "The originators returning to where it began is incredible."
Family heirlooms tell the story too. Riley Beresford, 25, inherited Sabbath's 1970 "Paranoid" single from his grandmother. "It's passed through three generations," he noted. "They created heavy metal - and Ozzy's wildness made him irreplaceable."
Museum director Toby Watley attributes Osbourne's enduring appeal to his authenticity: "He remains a working-class Aston lad at heart. Birmingham takes pride in his unfiltered persona." The exhibition displays Osbourne-loaned memorabilia including Grammy awards and Rock Hall trophies, alongside footage of his chaotic stage antics.
Those legendary exploits include the 1982 bat-head biting incident (Osbourne claims he thought it was rubber), urinating on the Alamo monument in a dress, and countless substance-fueled misadventures. Though previous retirements were threatened, ongoing Parkinson's battles make this farewell appear definitive for rock's most unpredictable frontman.
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