Sharon Osbourne shares two artists she “would have loved” to see play at final Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath show

Sharon Osbourne has revealed the two acts she “would have loved” to see perform at Black Sabbath‘s final ever show.

The legendary metal band will bow out with a huge concert at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5, dubbed ‘Back To The Beginning’. It’ll see frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward perform onstage together for the first time in two decades.

• READ MORE: Sharon Osbourne and Tony Iommi tell us about Black Sabbath’s finale: “Usually this thing is done when you’re dead”

They’ll be joined by a stacked, star-studded line-up, which boasts the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and the surviving members of Soundgarden.

However, there are still some big names that couldn’t make it to the upcoming historic gig. During a new interview with Music Business Worldwide, Ozzy’s wife and manager, Sharon, spoke about a pair of big names who’ll be missing on the day.

“There are two bands that we would have loved to have been there, but they couldn’t because they’re working that day,” she explained. “And that was Judas Priest, a local band, and Angus [Young] from AC/DC, because he’s always been a huge supporter of Ozzy’s.”

This comes after Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford admitted that he was “gutted” not to be taking part in Black Sabbath’s last show, saying he was unaware of the event until it was too late. He revealed that Sharon had offered to fly him to Birmingham and back on a private jet so he could make a guest appearance, but he deemed this to be “dangerous”.

Sharon added in her new interview: “I thought of having all the bands he’s ever had relationships with perform and maybe do Sabbath songs and Ozzy songs. I started to ask really close friends, and they were, like, ‘Sure, yeah’.”

She continued: “It became a celebration of the music. All the generations are going to be there that Sabbath and Ozzy have passed the torch down to. The only place that we could do it would have been Aston, because that’s where Ozzy was born and grew up, which is right where the Villa ground is.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercury Studios (@mercurystudios)

Meanwhile, Sharon recently kicked a band off the line-up, and claimed that their manager has since been “going around making up bullshit lies”.

Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello will serve as musical director for the event. Last week, it was announced that ‘Back To The Beginning’ is being live-streamed around the globe on a pay-per-view basis.

In other news, Ozzy has told fans he is “giving 120 per cent” as he prepares for his final performances at the gig. “If my God wants me to do the show, I’ll do it,” he said.

The Prince Of Darkness has undergone multiple surgeries and experienced numerous health problems in recent years, including Parkinson’s disease.

During a recent interview with The Guardian, Ozzy similarly looked ahead to playing the last Black Sabbath show in good health. “I’ll be there, and I’ll do the best I can,” he promised. “So all I can do is turn up.”

He suggested that he “may be sitting down” on stage, following reports that he’d be performing from a “throne that flies over the stadium”.

“We’re only playing a couple of songs each. I don’t want people thinking ‘We’re getting ripped off’, because it’s just going to be … what’s the word? … a sample, you’re going to get a few songs each by Ozzy and Sabbath,” he explained.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NME (@nmemagazine)

Ozzy said he was done with the “rock star lifestyle” too. He had previously told fans that he was “in heavy training” for the big farewell concert, and was back in the gym. He also said he would only be “doing little bits and pieces” with Sabbath: “I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable.”

Earlier this year, he said he now “can’t walk” as a result of Parkinson’s – but Sharon told NME that his illness “doesn’t affect his voice”. “He wants to say thank you to everybody,” she explained to us at Villa Park. “He didn’t have that chance because of his illness, but now he does have the chance.”

Sharon said her husband was doing “really great” at the time. She told us that Ozzy was feeling “very emotional” about the final Sabbath set, and that it was “what he wants”.

The post Sharon Osbourne shares two artists she “would have loved” to see play at final Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath show appeared first on NME.