Ozzy Osbourne will only perform five songs at Black Sabbath farewell show, Sammy Hagar confirms
Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar has confirmed that Ozzy Osbourne will only sing five solo songs at the sold-out Black Sabbath farewell show in July at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Hagar, who will support and sing ‘Fly High Again’ at the show after discovering Osbourne is set to perform his first choice, revealed the news in a new interview with Loudwire Nights. Hagar claimed that Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello gave him the information. Morello is the musical director for the show.
“I chose to do ‘No More Tears’ (during his set at Villa Park) and Tom goes, ‘Oh, that would be great,’” Hagar said. “And then he comes back and says, ‘Guess what? Ozzy’s going to try and sing five songs and he wants to sing ‘No More Tears’.'”
At the star-studded event, Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi will perform together as a four-piece for the first time in 20 years with support from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.
The small number is likely due to Ozzy’s poor health, which is caused by Parkinson’s disease. Since the announcement, Osbourne has revealed that he was “in heavy training” for the concert after several health issues had set him back. He also seems already to be distancing the magnitude of his abilities from the show, as he told fans he would only be “doing little bits and pieces” at the event.
Tool’s Maynard James Keenan aired his scepticism on Loudwire Nights. He said: “I’m cautious about saying, ‘Yeah! All in, he’s gonna do it.’ Because man, I don’t know what kind of modern miracles we’ll come up with to get him on stage to do the songs, but this is gonna be a challenge for them.”
All profits from the show will be shared equally between the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
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