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Black Sabbath given the Freedom of the City of Birmingham ahead of final show
30 June 2025, 16:18 | Updated: 30 June 2025, 16:20
The heavy metal icons have been bestowed the honour ahead of their farewell homecoming show this week.
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Black Sabbath have been given the Freedom of the City of Birmingham ahead of their farewell show on 5th July.
Earlier this year, the heavy metal legends - comprised of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward - announced their plans to reunite in their entirety for the first time in 20 years at none other than Aston Villa F.C's Villa Park.
Now, with less than a week to go until the milestone gig, which has also been dubbed "Back To The Beginning: Ozzy's farewell," it has been revealed that the band have been given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, with all four members presented with scrolls and medals by the Lord Mayor.
During the ceremony, Butler called Birmingham "a great working-class city" and said people used to make fun of the band's accents.
He added: "We weren't given a chance when we started out, but Birmingham has always been behind us".
See the post of the event shared by the Black Sabbath account below:
Frontman Ozzy also shared a memory of his father going into debt to buy him his first microphone and credits the band with answering his advert for all of their success. “I first put an advert in a music store in town,” the Prince of Darkness went on. “If these guys hadn’t come to my door, I wouldn’t be sitting here now."
“It seems to have flown by so quickly. It’s amazing,” he added. “I’m a Brummie and I always will be a Brummie. Birmingham Forever.”
The medals were designed by Toby Williams - a Birmingham City University student who won a competition.
The honour comes a week after Black Sabbath shared the first images of them back in rehearsals. They captioned the below, which was taken by Osbourne's daughter Kelly: "6 Days until Back To The Beginning: Ozzy’s Final Bow"
Meanwhile, the band's special show is set to be livestreamed and fans can buy their special livestream ticket now at backtothebeginning.com.
The announcement on social media reads: "The stadium may be sold out, but the world is invited… you asked, and your prayers have been answered 🔥
Ozzy & Black Sabbath’s monumental farewell performance, BACK TO THE BEGINNING will be streamed worldwide on 5th July! And if that’s not enough, the full set will be available to watch on demand for 48 hours after the show.
If you missed out on tickets for the huge lineup at Villa Park, you don’t have to miss out on being a part of music history."
Read more:
- How much do tickets cost for Black Sabbath's final show at Villa Park?
- Ozzy Osbourne claims he won't be playing a full set with Black Sabbath at summer show
- Sharon Osbourne is open to a Black Sabbath hologram show: "You never know what the opportunities are"
The all-day event will feature a supergroup of musicians with the following artists announced so far: Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns ‘n Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen and Zakk Wylde.
Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello who is the Musical Director of the event said: “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.”
All profits from the show will be shared equally between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.
Sharon Osbourne has previously revealed to artists who are gutted not to be at the farewell show.
During a new interview with Music Business Worldwide, Ozzy’s wife and manager revealed: "There are two bands that we would have loved to have been there, but they couldn’t because they’re working that day. And that was Judas Priest, a local band, and Angus [Young] from AC/DC, because he’s always been a huge supporter of Ozzy’s.”
Speaking about the milestone gig, Sharon previously told Radio X Classic Rock: "It's time for Ozzy to say goodnight to everybody and what better way to do it than to do it surrounded by your friends, your family and back to the beginning, the place where he was born in Aston?"
Speaking of the incredible star-studded line-up for the show, which includes everyone from Metallica to Slayer, she said: "It's heartwarming and to realise what great friends you've got. And Ozzy is loved and by his peers and Sabbath. You know, Ozzy and Sabbath are loved and it's fantastic. It's really a great feeling to think that all the years you've been in the industry and you're still loved and relevant and, you know, people want to celebrate your body of work that you've done. And the fans, you know, it's all about the fans too."
Quizzed how her husband was preparing for the show amid his health battles, the former Celebrity Big Brother star added: "... Parkinson's isn't something that goes away. You have it forever. There's no cure. So he has battles with it where he has to work with the physical therapist every day. And, you know, he's got to keep his muscles going, and he's, you know, he's. He's fine. As fine as you can be with Parkinson's, you know?"
And if she had anything else to say to the fans, he 72-year-old added: "Just that how thankful we all are because we're nothing without the fans."
Sharon Osbourne on Black Sabbath's final show & Ozzy's health
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