Listen to Ozzy Osbourne reunite with Black Sabbath one last time at his 'final' show... 30 years ago today

(Image credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

On November 15, 1992 Ozzy Osbourne played the final night of what was touted at the time as his very last tour... and reformed Black Sabbath for his encore.

The 'No More Tours' trek - titled with a wink towards Ozzy's No More Tears album, wound up with two nights at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California. At the conclusion of Osbourne's 14 song set, which included Sabbath hits Paranoid and War Pigs, on night two the singer reunited with his old friends Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for a four song Black Sabbath mini-set, featuring the songs Black Sabbath, Fairies Wear Boots, Iron Man and Paranoid, again.

Iommi, Butler and Ward had already performed onstage together that night, with Judas Priest's Rob Halford on vocals, after Ronnie James Dio declined to be part of the celebratory 'farewell' to his Sabbath predecessor.

Three days later, the original Black Sabbath line-up was inducted into LA's Rock Walk of Fame. Which would have been a nice way for the Godfathers of Heavy Metal to sign off on their remarkable career... had Ozzy not decided days later that "retirement sucks" and started writing songs again. The singer was back on the road within four years, supporting his Ozzmosis album: Sabbath themselves returned to the road in 1994, touring the Cross Purposes album with Tony Martin on vocals.

Sabbath original line-up would reform again for Ozzfest 1997.

Listen to Black Sabbath with Ozzy on November 15, 1992 below:

Ozzy recently said he'd be up for working with Tony Iommi again... but not as Black Sabbath.

"I wouldn't say no to do some more with Tony," he said. "I would work with any of them individually. But as Black Sabbath, I think it's [over]. We couldn't really beat what we've already done."

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.