Soundgarden issue statement after not appearing at Black Sabbath’s final concert
Soundgarden have shared a statement with fans, explaining why they did not make their scheduled appearance at the final Black Sabbath show.
The event took place at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5, and marked the final performance of the metal pioneers. It also saw Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward – the founding members – perform together for the first time in two decades, and those performing alongside them included Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and many more.
Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello served as musical director too, and actor Jason Momoa hosted the event – as well as making headlines after starting a moshpit during Pantera’s set.
However, during the event fans were quick to notice that grunge icons Soundgarden, who were a part of the bill, did not make their appearance at the one-off event. It also led to some speculating that they may have been the band that organiser Sharon Osbourne kicked off the show due a disagreement.
Now, the band have shared a statement online, explaining why they were absent from the huge event and seemingly clearing up that they were not the artist who was taken off the line-up.
“Congratulations to Black Sabbath on the grand and final pealing of their vesper bells,” the remaining members wrote on their Nudedragons Instagram account. “Thank you for an astounding career that provided us and your legion of fans with a lifetime of beauty, horror, love, power, happiness, melancholy and a profoundly sublime, yet viscerally rocking transcendence informed by both doom and hope.”
“Your majestic brilliance has inspired greatness in scores of other bands, musicians and songwriters. However, the crown will forever remain yours,” the caption added. “We are very grateful to Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, as well as Sharon Osbourne and music director, Tom Morello for the honour and invitation to Soundgarden to perform at the Back to the Beginning festival!”
Explaining why they were not in attendance on the night, they shared: “We are super bummed and regret that we were unable to coordinate the schedules of our individual and collective projects to attend and contribute to the festival.
“The warmth, love and support from the Black Sabbath team has been a continuing source of encouragement and strength throughout our career.”
Along with the caption, the post also included a photo of the members, including late frontman Chris Cornell with Osbourne and Iommi at the 2012 edition of Download Festival.
At the time of writing, it is unclear as to who has been axed from the historic event, and when Sharon Osbourne made the announcement ahead of the show, she said it was due to one of the artists making up some “bullshit lies” that led to the decision.
At first, some suspected it may have been TOOL, as their name did not then appear in an updated version of the poster, but the members soon dismissed this and performed at the event as planned.
Other standout moments of the show included Tool’s Danny Carey, Blink-182’s Travis Barker and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith taking part in a drum-off while covering Sabbath’s ‘Symptom Of The Universe’. They were also joined by Tom Morello, bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne’s solo material), and Bettencourt.
As well as that, Morello, Steven Tyler, Travis Barker and The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood came together to cover Led Zeppelin.
Afterwards, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, Yungblud, and The Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan were among the many who shared what the star-studded show meant to them, and it has been reported that the huge live event has raised approximately £190million for charity.
The post Soundgarden issue statement after not appearing at Black Sabbath’s final concert appeared first on NME.
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