Steven Tyler and Soundgarden to perform at Black Sabbath farewell concert
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and the surviving members of Soundgarden have been added to the bill for Black Sabbath‘s farewell show at Villa Park in Birmingham this summer.
They join an already stacked bill of acts which includes Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Mastodon, Tool as well as members of Judas Priest, Limp Bizkit, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Megadeth, Van Halen, Ghost, and Faith No More.
The news of Tyler and Soundgarden’s involvement was revealed by Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, during an interview with The Guardian. While the line-up is already a who’s who of rock royalty, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who is serving as the event’s musical director, promised, “There are some pretty great surprises that are not posted anywhere.”
Last summer, Aerosmith shelved plans for their farewell tour due to Tyler’s suffering a vocal injury, which forced him into retirement. They explained in a statement: “Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side.”
Aerosmith conceded that a “full recovery from his vocal injury isn’t possible” and they labelled the decision to retire as “heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary”. Nevertheless, Tyler will make an appearance at Villa Park on July 5th.
Speaking to The Guardian, Osbourne explained what the show will entail: “We’re only playing a couple of songs each. I don’t want people thinking, ‘We’re getting ripped off,’ because it’s just going to be … what’s the word? … a sample, you’re going to get a few songs each by Ozzy and Sabbath.”
Osbourne also looked forward to his retirement after the huge homecoming show in the summer, stating, “I’d love to say ‘never say never’, but after the last six years or so … it is time.” He continued:” It’s time for me to spend some time with my grandkids, I don’t want to die in a hotel room somewhere. I want to spend the rest of my life with my family.”
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