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Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath Play Final Shows in Birmingham, England

Music|The Pilgrimage to Ozzy Osbourne’s Last Gig

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/arts/music/ozzy-osbourne-black-sabbath.html

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Heavy metal fans crossed continents to converge on Birmingham, England, and throw devil horns in honor of the Prince of Darkness and Black Sabbath.

Fans gather outside the venue for a farewell concert by Ozzy Osbourne and friends, which was decorated with a giant statue of Osbourne in his prime.

By Alex Marshall

Reporting from, and headbanging in, Birmingham, England

July 6, 2025, 1:36 p.m. ET

They came by the thousands.

They dressed in black, with T-shirts featuring crucifixes, dragons and demons.

They gathered on Saturday in Birmingham, England, to pay their respects to a figure of almost religious significance in the heavy metal world: Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness.

Since Osbourne and his bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, formed Black Sabbath in Birmingham in 1968, they have been regarded as the fathers of heavy metal.

On Saturday, Osbourne, 76, was at the center of “Back to the Beginning,” a 10-hour concert at the Villa Park soccer stadium that he had said would culminate in Black Sabbath’s final stage appearance.

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Chris Hopkins from Birmingham showing his Black Sabbath tribute tattoo.Credit...Ellie Smith for The New York Times

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Ozzy Osbourne masks.Credit...Ellie Smith for The New York Times

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Anshul Doshi, center with beard, who lives in England, and an entourage that traveled from India for the concert.Credit...Ellie Smith for The New York Times