Goodbyes are bittersweet, but they don’t all have to be permanent, at least not as far as Dolly Parton is concerned. In an exclusive video for Rolling Stone, the country star shared a heartfelt send-off to Ozzy Osbourne, who performed his final concert of Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning farewell performance run this past weekend. Parton’s video message played on screens in between sets at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
“I know you’re at home and what a wonderful place to be, right? Now, are we supposed to be saying farewell to you? Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Parton said. “How about we just say good luck, God bless you, and we will see you somewhere down the road. Anyway, I love you, always have. And we’re gonna miss you up on stage, but you know what? I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t show up somewhere else — and I’ll be there.”
A heavy metal show isn’t an unlikely place for Parton to find herself. Last month, the singer appeared on Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home,” reimagined as a duet for their upcoming singles collection From the Beginning, out in September.
Back to the Beginning, a charity concert, brought together the original Black Sabbath lineup, including Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. Earlier this year, Iommi told The Guardian, “I’m the one that said, ‘I don’t know if we should do it’, because we did a farewell tour and I didn’t want to get into that thing like all the other bands are doing, saying it’s the last tour and then reappearing again. But I’ve been convinced, because we’re doing it for a reason.”
Osbourne faced a number of health concerns leading up to his grand finale. “You wake up the next morning and find that something else has gone wrong,” the musician told The Guardian. “You begin to think this is never going to end. Sharon could see that I was in Doom Town, and she says to me, ‘I’ve got an idea.’ It was something to give me a reason to get up in the morning. I thought: Oh, fucking hell, she’s got an idea. Here we go.”
Parton’s 2023 studio album, Rockstar, featured the country queen performing with artists like Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
