Unbeknownst to the public, for the past year, Tom Morello had been working closely behind the scenes with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne on something big. That big ol’ something manifested as an announcement that shook the heavy metal world in early February 2025: Ozzy, who had been in ill health, was hitting the stage for one last time in hometown, Birmingham, England, with the original lineup of Black Sabbath and a ton of his friends, collaborators, and devotees.
The idea is simple: one final show. But the event, which takes place in Birmingham, England, on July 5, 2025, is a massive tribute to all things Ozzy and the original Sabbath. The slate of artists who will perform includes Morello, Metallica, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Lzzy Hale, Wolfgang Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses.
More importantly, the show will see Osbourne reunited with Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi for the first time in ages.
“The idea,” Morello tells Guitar Player. “Is to curate the greatest day in the history of heavy metal for the greatest band in the history of heavy metal.”
This isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Rage Against the Machine co-founder, who names himself a “super fan” when it comes to metal—and who has championed old-school bands like Iron Maiden, Kiss, Rush and Sabbath with vigor. “Metal is the music that made me love music,” Morello says.
“It was the metal posters on my walls and the metal riffs that I learned first that made me love playing guitar and want to be a musician,” he adds. “It’s a debt that I owe. Having the good fortune of being able to use my talents of persuasion and as a curator to push forward and honor the genre that has meant so much to me is an honor.”
Beyond the cast of characters, which he humorously calls “12 of the greatest Black Sabbath cover bands in history,” Morello is tight-lipped on what fans might expect come July 5. But he does reveal that the bands “throughout the day are going to be paying tribute to Sabbath,” and adds “this is a once in-forever show.
“To be able to do it with all four members of Black Sabbath alive and well and headlining the show, it’s going to be… Well, the goal is clearly stated: to make it the greatest day in the history of heavy metal.”
As the director of the final Ozzy and Sabbath event, how did this get started?
Well, over a year ago, Ozzy and Sharon came to me and said, “There’s going to be one last, big Sabbath bash. Would you help put it together, curate the music and figure it out?” As a huge fan of Black Sabbath and the Osbourne catalog, I was honored to be asked to do that.
Over the course of the months, we’ve been assembling lists of bands and musicians to invite and what songs might be represented on that day. It’s really coming to a head.
Do you remember when you first discovered Sabbath?
I was not a fan at first. I was just terrified of them. Someone brought Sabbath Bloody Sabbath to school one day, and I remember just looking at the cover and going, “Wait — there’s a band that chose that for their album art? And the name of the band is Black Sabbath?” It was a whole ’nother level.
When did you become a fan?
The Paranoid record was my introduction to the band and the incredible riffs and vibe. It was unlike anything that had ever been.
Can we even measure Sabbath’s impact on heavy metal?
The DNA of that band and genre is everywhere. Certainly, it’s in those bands from the ‘90s like Alice in Chains, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine. In all those bands, there’s at least one guy that loves Black Sabbath — and it shows.
For you in particular, how has Black Sabbath shaped your music?
I’m a riff writer. And Ground Zero for riff writing is Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi. They’re the two pillars, and they’re a big part of how I built my sound. “Iron Man” was one of the first riffs I learned on guitar, and Tony Iommi has another two or three hundred of the greatest electric guitar riffs of all time in his catalog. The big lesson you can draw from the music of Black Sabbath as a musician is: Don’t be afraid to be simple and awesome.
Do you remember when you first realized that?
I remember taking a guitar lesson to learn “Sweet Leaf,” and the guitar instructor was a bit snobby — like sort of scoffing about how easy it was. I was thinking, That doesn’t seem to be the criteria for greatness. That’s a fucking song that rocks me like I’ve never been rocked before. Who cares if it has four notes or 40,000 notes in it? It’s great!
It made me see music is a different way than other people, which was helped by bands like Black Sabbath. And that’s one of the things that I’ve certainly integrated into my own music and riffs through the years.
As “easy” as those riffs may be, if you try to play them, you’ll never sound like Tony Iommi.
For sure. As everyone famously knows, in that industrial accident, he cut off the tips of two of his fingers. He literally is an Iron Man! His fingers are not human. That certainly has something to do with it all. And then every one of those great Tony Iommi riffs is made great by that rhythm section of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. That’s really what elevates those riffs from being not just great riffs but Black Sabbath riffs.
Can you name your favorite original lineup riff?
Looking at some of the stuff we have going on the show, “N.I.B.” is totally classic. And there’s “Into the Void,” “Children of the Grave”… there’s so many great riffs. I mean, in “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” two-thirds of the way through the song might be the heaviest riff that anybody has ever riffed on! Those are a few off the top of my head, but it’s an embarrassment of riches.
Is Sabbath’s original lineup the be-all-end-all for you, or do you get into the Dio era too?
I love the Dio era. I think those are great records. Dio has been celebrated in other ways and at other times, but this show is about the fearsome foursome — you know, the original four. It’s just amazing that we were able to get them together for one more go around.
An original lineup reunion is a long time coming—and something that didn’t happen on Sabbath’s final tour. What does it mean to you to not only witness but be a part of organizing it?
It’s such an incredible honor. I can’t remember what year it was, but on the last tour with Bill Ward, they were playing a couple of nights at the L.A. Forum. I thought that I was just going to go down, pay my respects. Since the bad was getting older, my expectation was to go and just see Black Sabbath one more time.
But they were so fucking awesome that I went back the next day! [laughs] I had heavy metal whiplash in my neck for the next month after those two days! So the fact that Bill is playing? Every band has its dramas through the years, you know? So for people to be able to look each other in the eye and enjoy a tremendous thing they’ve created, it’s pretty special.
It's pretty cool that you’ve Jake E. Lee participating, too.
Yes! Jake E. Lee is going to be there, too, dude! It’s historic on a lot of levels for someone who is a big fan of the Ozzy records. We’re celebrating Black Sabbath, but it’s Ozzy Osbourne’s final show, too. It is, in some ways, also a tribute to the great Randy Rhoads, who was on a poster on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day.
That was the musician’s musician. Like, I take the job of curating this day very, very seriously. Not just to honor the living members of Black Sabbath but also Randy Rhoads, who is so important to me personally, and to the genre. To have that be a part of the day, too, is pretty special.
Have you talked with the various acts, and with Ozzy about what songs you all might perform, let alone what the original four will perform?
We’ve talked a lot about it… and I’m not going to tell you anything about it. [laughs] We’re gonna let it be very exciting! I will say this as a bit of a tease: We’ve got Sabbath playing. We’ve got Ozzy playing. And then, I think there are 12 of the greatest Black Sabbath cover bands in history on the bill, including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, etc.
Those are all very different bands, and yet they’re all paying tribute to Sabbath. What’s the common thread that makes all this possible?
Without Sabbath, there is no heavy metal. All of us owe a debt not just to the brilliance of their music but to bringing it into the world — the thing that became the music and the community of heavy metal. That is something that sustained me as a young person and is very, very meaningful to working-class and middle-class people around the world.
That sound could only have come from Birmingham, England. It, in some ways, drove a stake through the heart of the flower power generation of the ’60s. You could not imagine music like that just two years before that. And now it’s in the DNA of thousands and thousands of bands that those of us that are playing at the show and are in, and that millions have enjoyed.
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