"Thank you for a lifetime of beauty, horror, love, power, happiness, melancholy." Soundgarden salute the "majestic brilliance" of Black Sabbath, and say they were "super bummed" at not being able to play the band's Back To The Beginning show

The surviving members of Soundgarden have paid tribute to Black Sabbath, and confessed to being "super bummed" that they were unable to perform at the legendary British metal band's farewell Back To The Beginning show on. July 5.

In the statement, released on July 13, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron revealed that they had been invited to play the Back To The Beginning show at Birmingham's Villa Park by the day's musical director Tom Morello, but could not make it work due to scheduling conflicts. But the trio paid a fulsome tribute to Sabbath, who they've long acknowledged as one of the key influences upon their band.

Posted on their social media pages, the band's statement reads:

"Congratulations to Black Sabbath on the grand and final pealing of their vesper bells!

"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!

"We are very grateful to Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, as well as Sharon Osbourne and music director, Tom Morello for the honor and invitation to Soundgarden to perform at the Back to the Beginning festival! 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."

Soundgarden once claimed that their original ambition for their band was to be like Sabbath "without the parts that sucked". But after the band reformed in 2010, frontman Chris Cornell told Classic Rock that the group were now "trying to add all the parts that suck back in."