Black Sabbath: The Ballet performances will take place in five UK cities from September to November.
The production – put on by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, who hail from Black Sabbath’s hometown – will have numerous dates each in Birmingham, Salford, Plymouth, London and Edinburgh. See full details below.
The tour will follow the ballet’s sell-out premiere in Birmingham and further UK productions in 2023, international shows in 2024 and a US debut at the Virginia Arts Festival last month.
The ballet has been revitalised for 2025. It will feature brand-new audio from interviews with Sharon Osbourne, band manager and wife of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, and Sabbath’s fans.
The Birmingham Royal Ballet have also promised “revised, sharpened” sound design that will be “turned up to full volume for this electric night of dance and rock that audiences have never experienced before”.
When the new shows were first announced back in January, Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta commented: “Back in 2023 we were blown away by the awesome success of Black Sabbath: The Ballet, selling out at every performance with standing ovations and bringing audiences that had never experienced live dance before to the theatre.
“Now, in 2025, we are cranking the volume up to 11 with a big, bold UK tour that is sure to knock everyone’s socks off!”
Black Sabbath co-founder, lead guitarist and co-songwriter Tony Iommi added: “Black Sabbath have always been innovators and never been predictable, and it doesn’t come any more unpredictable than this!
“It was incredible to see what Carlos and the team at Birmingham Royal Ballet did back in 2023 – bringing our music to life in a way I never thought possible! It’s fantastic that more fans across the country get to see this extraordinary production this autumn on a UK tour.”
Metal Hammer attended the ballet’s premiere in September 2023 and awarded it four stars. Journalist Rich Hobson wrote: “A resounding success in melding worlds together, Black Sabbath: The Ballet is a stunning spectacle well worth watching for fans of metal and ballet alike. And who knows – by its end maybe those camps aren’t so disparate as they might have first seemed.”
The ballet dates will start two months after Sabbath’s farewell show, which is being held at Birmingham’s Villa Park on July 5. The founding lineup – Osbourne, Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – will reunite for the final time in what will also mark Osbourne’s final live performance, and they’ll be supported by a who’s who of hard rock and metal.
The event will be livestreamed, with tickets to the stream now available to buy.
Black Sabbath: The Ballet 2025 UK dates:
Sep 18–27: Birmingham Hippodrome
Oct 08–11: Salford Lowry
Oct 16–18: Plymouth Theatre Royal
Oct 22 –25: London Sadler’s Wells
Oct 30–Nov 01: Edinburgh Festival Theatre
