Ozzy Osbourne announced Wednesday this his all-star farewell concert Back to the Beginning will stream live to a worldwide audience on July 5.
The one-day-only charity gig in Birmingham, England will feature Osbourne both solo and with the fully reunited Black Sabbath, as well as sets from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Lamb of God, and more acts that the heavy metal legend inspired.
Check out the Back to the Beginning streaming site for more details on the pay-per-view concert event.
“It’s my time to go back to the beginning … time for me to give back to the place where I was born,” Osbourne said of his “final” concert in a statement back in February. “How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham for ever.”
In addition to the concert itself, a new documentary, No Escape From Now, will chronicle the monumental health setbacks Osbourne has experienced since 2019 and how he came to the decision to set up the farewell concert in his hometown. That film will premiere on Paramount+ later this year.
In more odd Ozzy-related news, Osbourne’s DNA has been harvested for a limited-edition collaboration with beverage company Liquid Death, which sold 10 empty cans of their iced tea that were personally imbibed by the singer.
“Yes, we really got the Prince of Darkness to drink from 10 cans of our low-calorie Iced Tea,” Liquid Death said. “And yes, he actually crushed each can himself. In the process, he left behind trace DNA from his saliva that you can now own. He even hand-signed each packaging label.”
The company added, “Now, when technology and federal law permits, you’ll be able to replicate Ozzy Osbourne and enjoy him for hundreds of years into the future.”
Osbourne quipped of the stunt, “My DNA is in this can. You could clone me — but why the fuck would you want to?”
Despite Liquid Death cautioning in a disclaimer that “DNA integrity and cloning results not guaranteed,” all 10 empty cans, priced at $450 apiece, have already sold out.
