Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath will headline Back to the Beginning at Villa Park next month, and a host of other musicians are set to be part of the concert’s line-up
19:15, 26 Jun 2025Updated 19:15, 26 Jun 2025
One of the acts who was due to appear at Black Sabbath‘s star-studded Back to the Beginning concert has pulled out of the charity event being held next week. The musician has announced that he now won’t be part of the line-up.
The sold-out event, which was announced back in February, will be headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, who are the original members of Black Sabbath. The reunion has been described as Ozzy’s “final performance” and is said to be raising money for charities.
A host of artists will take to the stage at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham on July 5 for the event, which is set to feature sets from acts like Metallica. It’s also been teased that there will be a “supergroup of musicians,” which was supposed to include Wolfgang Van Halen, 34.
Wolfgang however has now announced that he’s had to drop out of the special occasion due to scheduling conflicts. He’s shared that his band Mammoth has to be back in the US the next day to rehearse as the support act for Creed on tour.
Wolfgang Van Halen has announced that he will no longer perform at the Back to the Beginning concert being held in Birmingham next week(Image: Redferns)
He shared the news whilst on radio station WRIF’s Talkin’ Rock with Meltdown recently. Asked if he will be coming to the UK for the Back to the Beginning concert, he said: “I unfortunately had to back out because the Creed tour starts like the day after and I wouldn’t be able to pull it off, unfortunately.”
Wolfgang – who’s the son of Van Halen’s Eddie Van Halen – however said that he’s still looking forward to the event. He said: “I’m very excited to see … to watch it, y’know. But I unfortunately had to back out.”
Creed’s Summer of ’99 tour is scheduled to kick off at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 9. Mammoth are among the “special guests” who are set to join the band on the tour, alongside Daughtry, Sevendust and Big Wreck.
Back to the Beginning was announced four months ago ahead of the one-off concert in July. It was teased at the time that “icons of metal” are coming together to celebrate Ozzy’s “final performance” at Villa Park stadium on July 5.
The one-off event, headlined by Black Sabbath, marks the ‘final performance’ of Ozzy Osbourne and is set to feature a host of acts(Image: Getty Images)
Alongside the band, it was announced that the line-up will include a host of other acts too. There’s said to be sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.
It was also revealed that the line-up will feature a “supergroup,” which was meant to include Wolfgang. Other artists previously listed for the event included the Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.
The event promises to “celebrate the true creators of heavy metal” and Ozzy is scheduled to play his own “short” set, before joining with Black Sabbath for “his final bow”. Music Director Tom Morello said: “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.”
In a statement, Ozzy said: “Its my time to go Back to the Beginning … time for me to give back to the place where I was born. How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.”
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