Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Concert with Black Sabbath Raised $190 Million for Charity

Ozzy Osbourne’s Final Concert with Black Sabbath Raised $190 Million for Charity

The Prince of Darkness made his official curtain call recently with a benefit concert for Parkinson’s research and children’s hospitals that raised a staggering $190 million.

Featuring a star-studded lineup of heavy metal greats, and culminating in Black Sabbath’s final performance, the concert was livestreamed by millions around the world after tickets for the Birmingham show sold out in just 16 minutes.

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A post shared by Tom Morello (@tommorello)

Rage Against the Machine’s guitarist Tom Morello served as the music director for an event he hoped would be remembered for all time. The mountain of proceeds went to Cure Parkinson’s (which Osbourne, 76, suffers from), Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice.

Following performances from heavy metal stars Mastodon, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and two different supergroups composed by Morello that included members of Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Blink 182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden (and many others), Black Sabbath took the stage with the Parkinson’s-stricken Osbourne seated on a black throne.

It was the first time since 2005 that the original line-up of the band (Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward) had performed together live.

“THANKYOU @ozzyosbourne for trusting me to be the Musical Director of the ‘Back to the Beginning’ show,” Morello shared on his Instagram post. “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.”

Osbourne was likewise retrospective and sentimental in his thoughts about the show.

“It’s my time to go back to the beginning … time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne said in a statement when announcing the show in February. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love.”

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Despite the Parkinson’s, Osbourne sang a 9-song set, rising from beneath the stage upon a bat-shaped throne, fully embodying his moniker as the Prince of Darkness.

“It’s so good to be on this f—ing stage, you have no idea,” the legendary rocker said at the onset, according to Variety. “Let the madness begin!”