After the final Black Sabbath gig in early July last year, extremely high estimates of how much the mighty celebration of metal had earned its chosen charities were reported across the media.
Ozzy Osbourne’s son Jack has since spoken out about these figures, and has said that each of the three charities selected by the band received around £1.5–2 million, with the rough total coming in at around £6–7 million.
The gig was held at Villa Park in Black Sabbath’s home city of Birmingham, UK. It raised money for Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice. The show featured solo music from Ozzy as well as a performance from the original lineup of Black Sabbath, and a mighty roster of other rock and metal greats. Ozzy sadly passed away just a few weeks after the event.
Across the media, estimate figures of the gig’s earnings for charity were as high as $190 million. Sharon Osbourne also shut down these claims, and similarly to Jack, provided a rough total of around $11 million (about £8 million): a brilliant total that will have a real impact, nonetheless.
Speaking on the Punk Rock Sober podcast, Jack says, “This is how you know the news is probably 90 percent bullshit, ‘cause it was, like, CNN and New York Times was saying ‘Ozzy raised $150 million.’ And it wasn’t that. I think what it came down to was, like, when all was said and done, because it was a charity gig, you still have to pay for the actual gig. No bands got paid, and most of the crew donated their time.”
He adds, “But I think when all said [was] and done, each charity got, like, one and a half or two million pounds [approximately $2.7 million] each. So, it was, I think, six or seven million pounds [approximately $9.4 million]. That’s what was donated to the three charities. I mean, we would’ve loved it if it was hundreds of millions. We would have been, like, ‘Fuck yeah.’”
You can watch the full interview with Jack below:
Rachel began writing for Guitar.com in 2021 while finishing up her degree. A proud DIY guitarist, she has been playing for over 10 years and has written for the likes of Kerrang!, The Forty-Five, and MusicTech. An enjoyer of all things heavy, you’ll find her at a festival or downtuning her guitars when away from her desk.