- Preface -
The hyperlinks were arranged
And this entry was proofread
An hour before I published the post,
The world learned Ozzy was dead
A consumate storyteller
Exploring the mysteries of life
John has entered the hereafter.
Leaving fans, friends, progeny, and wife.
With this, I honor his exit.
And recall Sabbath's big night
Tearstained fans hold lighters lit
Ozzy's legacy burning bright.
- -
At least in American culture, the name "Black Sabbath" is so ingrained in the pop cultural zeitgeist that many know it's a musical reference. Many know that it's a band. In fact, a band with a dark reputation. As a teen millenial not yet with a web browser freely at my fingertips, I first heard of Black Sabbath in a youth class at MassArt. The mention of Black Sabbath set the tone of a music genre this classmate gravitated toward. It seemed worlds away from the late 90's top 40 playing on my radio. When watching Mark Dacascos's portrayal of Eric Draven in "the Crow: Stairway to Heaven", I had heard styling of a heavier style of rock. My access to learning more about harder genres of rock was still very limited. Not to mention "heavy" rock.
It was in high school that I started listening more often to what fit the subjective category of "classic rock". This was how I learned more about U2, Cream, the Beatles, the Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac. There were more bands and solo acts featured on WZLX 100.7, but if musicians were further out from center of the station's programing identity, the less likely I was to hear more songs. For the Pink Floyds, Ozzys, Blondes, and Scorpions of the industry, I would usually only hear singles that had penetrated far into the Billboard charts. Years before the Runaways film, classic rocks closest recognition of "the Queens of Noise" was through Joan and Lita's singles from their solo careers. Exceptions would be when I stayed up to hear artists profiled on the "Rockline" syndicated interview series. Sometimes, my deeper exploration would be when WZLX conducted a thorough dive through a musician's catalog of work. When Paul McCartney's "Driving USA Tour" reached the TD Garden, 100.7 celebrated his arrival with a weekend-long run through everything Macca. Pre-Wikipedia, and pre-YouTube, this is how I learned about the "Venus and Mars" album from Paul McCartney & Wings. That a Beatle wrote fanfic about Marvel Comics supervillains and released it in an album. Paul, his late wife Linda, and Denny Laine had played "Magneto & Crimson Dynamo" in front of comics illustrator Jack Kirby!
I digress. A little. Because Paul took a summer break from that U.S. tour and played at the "Party at the Palace" concert during Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. The concert was condensed to fit on a single DVD for home video purposes, and a slightly abridged version was played during PBS's summer pledge month. It was eye-opening! In a way that Elizabeth's Platinum and Diamond Jubilees attempted to recreate with their respective "Party at the Palace programs", the 2002 show displayed collaborations between cultures, genres, generations, and countries. There was a symphony orchestra from the Royal Academy of Music, conducted by Grammy-winning composer Michael Kamen. The "house band" also included Ray Cooper, Pino Paladino, and Paul Wickens (all known for exceptional work in the studio and on tour with major music stars). Then, there was Phil Collins at the drumkit. Queen's Roger Taylor would occasionally substitute in when Collins walked the stage for "Can't Hurry Love" and when the London cast of "We Will Rock You" perforned "Bohemian Rhapsody" with half of Queen. Ricky Martin opened the show with "Cup of Life" and "Living La Vita Loca". The Coors were performing "God Only Knows" with Brian Wilson. Cliff Richard performed "Move It" with S Club 7 and Brian May (at the time, I didn't know of Cliff or his old back up band, the Shadows). That house band was showing such versatility (that is a duly respected trait found in session musicians). What people didn't expect was Phil Collins indulging in a metal opportunity. Decades and one regent later, people watch Phil playing "Paranoid" with Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi, and are in disbelief. He took to heavy metal like a duck to water, and probably still remembers the moment fondly. This, ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinaries, is when I started developing a specific appreciation for Ozzy Osbourne, and Black Sabbath. Please excuse my not knowing about Geezer Butler or Bill Ward until their Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame induction. Without MTV for most of my teens, the most that I even knew if Osbourne's family was from Jack's appearance on "Dawson's Creek" and Kelly's cover of "Papa, Don't Preach".
Such as in the case of other musicians' work, I was eventually able to explore the work of Ozzy and Black Sabbath through the innovations of YouTube and Pandora algorithms. Sabbath with Osbourne. Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio. Ozzy's solo work. Ozzy's collaborations (whether it be with Lita Ford or Post Malone). There is a distinct darkness, while the Satanism Black Sabbath had been accused of was countered by Christian themes. Ozzy would boldly explore the more intimidating corners of occult spirituality (such as the work of Aleister Crowley), but his interests seemed out of curiosity at the most. Sharon Osbourne seems more open to the metaphysically arcane with her openminded approach to tarot and astrology. Black Sabbath's religious background showing a polar contrast between Satan and those emblemic crosses that the original four bandmates wear. "Neon Knights" (from the Dio era) was about warriors and knightly heritage, but in the name of the cross. Mystically recognizing different planes of existence as realms, can be seen as an allusion to warriors the faith. Whether it be St. George of Lydda or the immortals such as St. Michael and the other archangels.
I won't pretend to be a massive Black Sabbath fan, it's nothing against the bandmates, music or fans. It's just that the mix of minor chords and melancoly doesn't often resonate with me. I instinctively tend toward raucous bluesiness of Zeppelin and AC/DC, the operatic drama of Judas Priest and the Gems, or earnestly worded ballads by the Scorpions. "Different" as Black Sabbath's sound is (especially when they first rose up from Birmingham), I have such a deep appreciation for those musicians and their contributions to society. That's why I leapt at the opportunity to watch the "Back to the Beginning" concert event intended to give Ward, Iommi, Butler, and Osbourne fitting closure to their careers. The generous pledge to donate all proceeds to charity was very touching. Given Ozzy's personal health struggles, Parkinson's research was rightfully one of the causes benefitting from the concert's fundraising. The other two were pediatric care facilities located in Birmingham. Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice. The nature of a streamed concert is something that I've taken part in since Vika Yermolyeva would livestream sets on her "VKGoesWild" YouTube channel. In Vika's case, there are fans from around the globe, but there's only certain geographical places where the fan base is concentrated enough to make concerts practical. Enter streaming, and the ability for fans to congregate in a comments section with Vika's significant other (known only as "Sweetie") reading comments, allowing the pianist to interact in real time with members of the audience. Nothing can replace the experience of sharing a physical space and moment with performers and other fans (even on Second Life), but the cyberspace simulation of a concert venue finds ways to amaze. When everyone was socially distancing for the COVID-19 lockdown, the Dollyrots and their kids hosted from their bedroom an Easter Sunday concert on StageIt. That site (like "passing around a hat") asks you to pay whatever fee is appropriate for the musicians performing before you. Kelly and Luis performing as their kids ran in to proudly show off pet chickens spoke to authentic hokiness of the Dollyrots and the kids' involvement going back to the "Barefoot and Pregnant" album. When I saw the census of people streaming Black Sabbath's "Back to the Beginning festival" with a sold out Villa Park stadium, I witnessed concert streaming on what had to be an unprecedented scale. 4,310,000 fans watching at once through their screens. Give or take a few hundred through the course if the 8.5 hour event! The scale, and coordination is incomprehensible. Organizing a star studded lineup (there were leaks about the itinerary, but I wanted to stay surprised). Sound, lights, a rotating stage to allow a quick transition between sets, and a fireworks display. Audio on the stream shorting out for 3 minutes of the Alice in Chains set was more than understandable given the herculean broadcast endeavor being taken on by the crew. While occasional prompts offered advice for anyone who's device started lagging served as a way for the concert crew to directly thank the millions for their patience while the audio problem was swiftly being resolved. To any member of the Back to the Beginning crew reading this post, thank you.
I let slip one of the performing bands, didn't I? For the first few hours, I had scrap paper by my phone so that I could actively be taking notes on each band. As if I was physically at the arena. While different Supercross were configured, mixed, and matched, I started losing track of how I would keep such notes organized. Much less, keep up with the pace of the introductions. For me, much of the concert program was a crash course in different styles of metal. That was informative. Like when I saw Halestorm perform with the Hollywood Undead and the "metal core" band I Will Prevail. Each set wasn't just an opportunity to learn about different artists, but times to learn about metal subgenres. Halestorm did indeed perform Saturday, and I'm glad that they got this much exposure. A downside was that Lzzy Hale was one of "I counted two" female perforners who took the stage. I get that the music industry is male-dominated, but could they not find more female performers to stand among these icons? If found out that the Gems were playing a festival in Sweden that day. It would've been awkward to invite Lita Ford when her ex-husband is one of the Black Sabbath musicians being honored. Doro was with Judas Priest at the Scorpions's 60th anniversary show in Hanover. While Lita's solo career is better known in the US, her advantage over Doro (more widely seen as the queen of metal) was in how Lita went solo before grunge and post-punk changed the American rock market. It was in the 90's when Doro left Warlock. After struggling to carve a niche for herself in a pre-Pandora, pre-YouTube market, the Dusseldorf-natuve started leaning more into the European market. Like with VKGoesWild, it's challenging to find a Doro concert in the United States.
I was familiar with some of Alice in Chains' music, but I had never seen them live before the same thing with Metallica. Okay, I have seen Kirk Hammett, but it was at a Cheap Trick concert during his night off between Gillette Stadium shows. Jack Black played a cover of "Mr. Crowley" with a youth band featuring Tom Morello's son Roman. Their collaboration went viral on social media in 2023 and mirrors a mentorship role that Jack Black had with the kids on "School of Rock". Tom Morello eventually took the stage, leading an all star community of musicians. David Draiman performed before introducing Lzzy Hale (of Halestorm). Billy Corgan got some time to sing, and Steven Tyler showed us in three songs that his voice is recovering extremely well. Yes, Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt was there for much of the all star set. He additionally got to deliver a Portuguese message honoring Diogo Jiota (the member of Liverpool F.C. who died in an automobile accident days earlier). Completing these all star bands was a trio of drummers Travis Barker, Chad Smith, and Tool's Danny Carey.
Some of the other bands performing were well known, but further out of my own usual metal fields. It was great hearing Metallica's set, and this was the first time that I'd ever heard of any iteration of Pantera. I recognized Gojira once they brought out opera singer Marina Viotti. Hearing that combination, I recognized them from their teamwork at the 2024 Paris Olympiad. That leaves bands such as Mastodon and Lamb of God. They have a great fan base, and I took in their sets just the same as work from the other performers (I spent 10 hours watching my smart phone). Regardless, the prog rock genre just doesn't resonate as much with me. In some soul searching of my music listening, I explored different subgenres of metal, and was reminded of an old episode of "Metal Evolution" that explored a genre called "Power Metal". All of a sudden, I started seeing a pattern in many of the metal acts that I listen to. Ronnie James Dio's collective works, Judas Priest, the Scorpions, Doro and her old band Warlock. This would also explain my love of the Gems and their time in the "Black & Gold" era of Thundermother.
Following Metallica's set, the Prince of Darkness rose up from a trap door, seated on a winged throne. The throne is similar to the one he sang from at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The approach to mobility issues reminded me of when Jonie Mitchell sang from a grand armchair when performing with Brandi Carlile and Alison Russell at the 2024 Grammys. Just as I saw with the wheelchair-bound Anne Wilson, I was impressed by how well Ozzy could sing and project his voice despite medical conditions and singing from a seated position. After hearing other musicians cover "Mr. Crowley" and "Bark at the Moon", it was bittersweet to hear Osbourne himself singing such iconic songs from his solo career. The sense of finality made this performance of "Mama, I'm Coming Home" all the more moving. Iommi, Buttler, and Ward then joined Ozzy for three Black Sabbath songs. The foursome's final (though short) set gave the musicians an appropriate sense of closure as a unit. Pleasing at least himself, a 77 year-old Bill Ward went topless for the performance of Paranoid. It may have been a little embarrassing for the grandkids who he had joined at Taylor Swift's Eras tour, but Ward earned the right to end his career with as little clothing as he liked.
As the fireworks went off, Geezer presented Ozzy with a sheet cake, Slipknot's Sid Wilson proposed to Kelly Osbourne, and $190 million was raised for charity. The bandmates announced their future plans. Ward's retired. Iommi's working on a new solo album. Ozzy announced that there's a final Black Sabbath studio album planned for a 2026 release. Yes, I know that Ward's now retired, but who knows how much material he's already recorded in the time leading up to that press release. We've seen the Beatles release a final single including long deceased bandmates, so anything's possible. With the way that Ozzy's PR team emphasized the album as Ozzy returning to sing on Black Sabbath album. This would be less momentous if Rick Rubin hadn't created the "13" album with Osbourne, Iommi, and Buttler in 2013, but it would be poetic if one last Black Sabbath album remains with the original four members.
Thank you Black Sabbath for your career. I look forward to hearing your concluding album.
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