"Without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica. Thank you boys for giving us a purpose in life." Metallica pay onstage tribute to Black Sabbath as the Godfathers of Metal return to their hometown to play their last show ever

James Hetfield — (Image credit: Tony Iommi instagram)

Metallica paid a heartfelt tribute to Black Sabbath as they performed as special guests at what was the final farewell show for both the legendary Godfathers of Metal, and for their longtime frontman Ozzy Osbourne as a solo artist.

The band played not one, but two Sabbath songs in their 30 minutes onstage at Villa Park, Hole In The Sky from 1975's Sabotage album, and Johnny Blade, a deep cut from 1978's Never Say Die!, which the San Francisco metal superstars were performing live for the first time ever.

James Hetfield has spoken in the past about how hearing Black Sabbath's debut album when he was just nine-years-old completely altered the course of his life.

“This was more than just music,” he once recalled, “[this was] a powerful, loud, heavy sound that moved [my] soul.”

“Sabbath was the band that put heavy in my head,” he continued. “That first Sabbath album I would sneak out of my brother’s record collection and play on the forbidden record player. I wasn’t supposed to touch any of that stuff, but I did, and the first Sabbath album got in my head. That initial song, Black Sabbath, was the one when you’d put your headphones on and sit in the dark and get scared to death. Then the Devil’s riff comes in, and it got you!”

Before playing Creeping Death, the second song on his band's setlist tonight, following opener Hole In The Sky, James Hetfield told the Villa Park crowd exactly how important Sabbath were - and are - for his band.

"Let's celebrate the band Black Sabbath," he said. "Because without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica. Thank you boys for giving us a purpose in life. Thank you Black Sabbath."

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Speaking to Consequence in March, Kirk Hammett was equally humble about crediting the impact Black Sabbath had on his life, and on music in general, as he talked excitedly about Metallica signing up to play the show.

"It’s a real opportunity to say thank you to Ozzy and Tony and Geezer and Bill, ’cause they freaking wrote the book on the genre,” he stated plainly. "They developed it, they fleshed it out so that we can use what they did as a stepping stone to other ways to do this.

"If it wasn’t for those four guys, man, we might still be just kind of like wandering around in the dark. But the fact that they created a genre - not only created it, but then developed it and then turned it into like a few different things over the course of their career - is completely awe inspiring to me and my peers musically.

"I feel lucky and blessed that I’m in a situation where I can actually say thank you to the progenitors of a freaking genre." he added. "I love those guys. I have love for them for what they did. And I just want them to know that I’m just extremely thankful, ’cause my life would be extremely different if they didn’t do what they did."

Metallica setlist - Villa Park, Birmingham, July 5, 2025

1. Hole In The Sky
2. Creeping Death
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
4. Johnny Blade
5. Battery
6. Master Of Puppets

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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