Ozzy Osbourne‘s longtime collaborator and guitarist Zakk Wylde has teased that the frontman could be in a “throne that flies over the stadium” for Black Sabbath‘s final gig.
Earlier this year, the legendary metal band announce details of what will be their last-ever live show, taking place in Birmingham’s Villa Park on July 5.
As well as containing the original line-up – Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – the band will also be joined by a star-studded list of opening acts and special guests, including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Lamb Of God, Tool, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Guns N’ Roses, Halestorm, Gojira and more.
Speaking to Riff X’s Metal XS recently, Wylde said the magnitude of the gig is going to be “pretty mind-blowing”, and shared some insight as to how Ozzy could navigate the mammoth concert.
“The game plan is, let’s hope this is what happen, you always gotta stay on the bright side of life, because Oz was singing at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame thing,” he said (via Billboard).
“Ozzy was just sitting at the chair and he was singing ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’, and it sounded great. So hopefully we’ll just do this, and then Oz will go, ‘Let’s just fire up the machine again and we’ll do another tour.’
“With Oz and his throne that just flies over the stadium or whatever, [where he] shoots out buckets of water and does everything like that. So if Oz has a great time and it’s just, like, ‘I wanna go out on the road again,’ it’s just, like, ‘Good. Let’s do it again.’”
Ahead of the gig taking place later this summer, it was also previously shared that Ozzy was looking to build up his strength for the gig and has returned to the gym ahead of the massive show.
Producer Andrew Watt, who worked with the Prince Of Darkness on his last two studio albums, 2020’s ‘Ordinary Man’ and 2022’s ‘Patient Number 9’, shed light on his current health status during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show.
“It’s just his body is not doing what he wants it to do all the time,” Watt said, adding that he was “the real-life Iron Man”, and that “nothing has happened to his voice”, which is “as good as it has ever been”.
That update came shortly after the frontman shared an insight into his well-being recently, and said that his ailing health has meant that he will be making fewer on-stage appearances at the gig than some would hope.
“I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable,” he said in an interview with SiriusXM earlier this month.
Ozzy Osbourne speaks onstage during the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony. CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
“I am trying to get back on my feet. 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.”
Just before then, the metal icon revealed that he now “can’t walk” as a result of Parkinson’s disease. However, his wife and manager Sharon has assured fans that his illness “doesn’t affect his voice”. “Parkinson’s is a progressive disease. It’s not something you can stabilise. It affects different parts of the body and it’s affected his legs. But his voice is as good as it’s ever been,” she explained.
Sharon shared more insight into the singer’s health and voice when speaking to NME alongside Iommi at Villa Park, following the announcement of the huge show.
Here, she explained that her husband was currently doing “really great” and feeling “very emotional” about the final Sabbath show. “It’s what he wants,” she said. “He wants to say thank you to everybody. He didn’t have that chance because of his illness, but now he does have the chance.”
Sharon also told NME that ‘Back To The Beginning’ would be “just about celebrating the old music that still lives on”, rather than Black Sabbath releasing any new music. “You get to a stage in your career where whatever you do just doesn’t stand up to what you did before,” she explained. “To be able to rest on your laurels and say, ‘People still love that and it’s still selling and we can’t do better than what we’ve done’, that’s enough.”
Tickets for the concert went on sale on February 14, and due to the massive demand, many fans were left frustrated trying to secure tickets. Some people also criticised the high ticket prices – despite all profits being split equally across Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Meanwhile, Iommi and Butler have both shared statements about the upcoming reunion on social media, while Bob Daisley – the classic era Ozzy bassist – has talked about not being invited to perform at the band’s last show.
In more recent news, it was confirmed lately that a new Ozzy Osbourne documentary – which is set to discuss the health issues the metal legend has been facing in recent years – is on the horizon.
The post Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Zakk Wylde teases that the frontman could be in a “throne that flies over the stadium” for final Black Sabbath gig appeared first on NME.
