Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler admits that he's been having nightmares ahead of the metal legends' farewell show.
The original Sabbath line-up - Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward - will take their final bow onstage on July 5 at Birmingham's Villa Park, headlining a star-studded bill, featuring a who's who of hard rock and heavy metal. And in an interview with The Guardian, the bassist admits that he's already feeling nervous about what is arguably the most talked-about show of the band's whole career.
“I’m already having palpitations,” Butler reveals. “In fact, I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed everything went wrong on stage and we all turned to dust. It’s important that we leave a great impression, since it’s the final time that people will experience us live. So it has to be great on the night.”
The Back To The Beginning show, which will see Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward share a stage for the first time since 2005, was announced in February. Speaking with The Guardian, Ozzy says that the fact that the gig is at the home of Butler's beloved Aston Villa may have helped bring Butler on board, following his claim in 2023 that the bassist hadn't been in touch with him for years, leading Osbourne to label Butler a "fucking arsehole".
The one-day Back To The Beginning event will also feature Ozzy's final solo performance and a supporting cast that includes Metallica, Tool, Guns N' Roses,. Slayer, Alice In Chains, Mastodon and more, as well as appearances from Billy Corgan, Fred Durst, Jonathan Davis, Wolfgang Van Halen, Papa V Perpetua, Sammy Hagar, Zakk Wylde, Jake E Lee and more. Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) is acting as the event’s musical director.
"We have a very, very simple goal," Morello said earlier this year, "and that’s to make this the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. And to that end, you’ve probably seen the listed setlist. And let me tell you, there’s some huge superstars who are gonna be surprises on that day too. So, the idea is to really acknowledge the importance of that band in a way that the whole world will forever know."
"If it wasn’t for those four guys, man, we might still be wandering around in the dark," Metallica's Kirk Hammett said earlier this year. "But the fact that they created a genre – not only created it, but then developed it and then turned it into a few different things over the course of their career – is completely awe-inspiring to me and my peers musically. I mean, how do you thank someone like that?"
