{"id":50514,"date":"2025-08-07T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/50514\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:37:09","slug":"metallicas-lars-ulrich-looks-back-on-black-sabbaths-retirement-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/50514\/","title":{"rendered":"Metallica\u2019s Lars Ulrich looks back on Black Sabbath\u2019s retirement show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metallica<\/a> drummer Lars Ulrich has looked back on Black Sabbath<\/a>\u2019s retirement show Back To The Beginning<\/a>, admitting he was unsure how well the pioneering heavy metal<\/a> band would perform at their final gig together.<\/p>\n

Talking to Howard Stern on SiriusXM on Wednesday (August 6), the drummer, whose band were part of a star-studded rock and metal lineup at the all-day event in Birmingham last month, says that, ahead of Sabbath\u2019s set, \u201cWe were hoping for the best, we wanted it to be the best, we wanted it to be a grand slam, but we didn\u2019t know, because ultimately none of us knew what kind of shape they were in.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Sabbath\u2019s five-song set \u2013 which marked the first time singer Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward played together for the first time in almost 20 years \u2013 quickly blew the drummer away.<\/p>\n

He continues (via Blabbermouth<\/a>): \u201cAnd then they started playing [opening song] War Pigs, and I think instantly for all of us who were watching, it was just like, \u2018OK, it\u2019s gonna be fine. They sound great, if not better than ever.\u2019 And then Ozzy came in singing. Everybody was just like, \u2018They\u2019re gonna fucking kill it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ulrich adds that the strength of the performance only intensified the shock that he and his bandmates felt when Osbourne died on July 22<\/a>, just 17 days after the show, at the age of 76.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody walked away going, \u2018That\u2019s the last time we\u2019ll see Ozzy.\u2019 [We thought,] \u2018We\u2019ll see him at some event, or we\u2019ll be there to present another award for him.\u2019 So when he passed two weeks later, we were all just so stunned. That was the word that was being texted around to everybody on the text chains that I was on: \u2018This is just so fucking stunning.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Back To The Beginning was promoted as Osbourne\u2019s last concert, and took place on July 5 at Villa Park: a football stadium close to where the vocalist grew up in Aston, Birmingham. As well as Sabbath, the show featured a four-song solo set from Osbourne, plus support acts including Metallica, Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a>, Tool<\/a>, Gojira and Mastodon.<\/p>\n

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

The event was held to raise money for local Birmingham causes and is currently estimated to be the highest-grossing charity gig of all time. More than $190 million has gone to Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital, Cure Parkinson\u2019s and Acorns Children\u2019s Hospice.<\/p>\n

Osbourne died at his home in Buckinghamshire, with his cause of death being revealed this week as cardiac arrest. His passing inspired tributes from around the world, including one from Metallica. The band wrote on social media on the day the singer died: \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to Metallica. Hero, icon, pioneer, inspiration, mentor, and most of all, friend are a few that come to mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking to Stern, Ulrich says that Osbourne \u201cintroduced Metallica to a mainstream audience\u201d by letting them open for him on his Ultimate Sin North American tour in 1986.<\/p>\n

Lars Ulrich Talks Being a Part of Black Sabbath\u2019s Final Concert – YouTube
\n\"Lars<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has looked back on Black Sabbath\u2019s retirement show Back To The Beginning, admitting he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-50514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}