Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler and the surviving members of Soundgarden have been added to the bill for Black Sabbath’s farewell show.
The news comes from Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne’s wife/manager Sharon via a new interview with The Guardian.
The feature also contains a quote from Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who’s the ‘musical director’ for the event taking place at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5, saying that there are still “some pretty great surprises that are not posted anywhere”.
The new names add to what was already one of the most star-studded hard rock/heavy metal lineups of all time. The event, promoted as Back To The Beginning, will feature the last sets from both Sabbath and Ozzy, who’s sustained a successful solo career since 1979.
Previously announced as support acts were Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Anthrax, Gojira and many, many more. There will also be a ‘supergroup’ featuring Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost) and others. Famed actor Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game Of Thrones, A Minecraft Movie) will compere.
The confirmation of Tyler’s appearance at Back To The Beginning comes several months after the news that Aerosmith will be retiring from touring, in large part due to the strain Tyler’s voice was under following an injury.
The classic rock legends said in a statement in August: “As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible.”
Soundgarden’s singer/guitarist Chris Cornell died by suicide in May 2017, aged 52. The remaining members – guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd – have reunited multiple times since his death. In 2019, they hosted a tribute concert featuring performances by members of Audioslave, Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters and more. The band will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in November.
In the Guardian feature, Ozzy, Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler talk about the process of reuniting the band’s classic lineup, who haven’t appeared on stage together since 2005. Iommi reveals that he was the last member to be convinced to come back, but came around to the idea when he found out all Back To The Beginning proceeds will go to charity.
“I’m the one that said, ‘I don’t know if we should do it,’” he admits, “because we did a farewell tour [from 2016 to 2017] and I didn’t want to get into that thing like all the other bands are doing, saying it’s the last tour and then reappearing again. But I’ve been convinced, because we’re doing it for a reason.”
See the latest poster for Back To The Beginning below:
