Earlier this month, Black Sabbath’s original lineup took their final bow during the Back to the Beginning festival in their hometown of Birmingham, England. The event also marked Ozzy Osbourne’s final live performance. Before the iconic band took the stage, a laundry list of metal giants took the stage to pay tribute to the godfathers of the genre. Unfortunately, though, Soundgarden wasn’t able to attend.
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Earlier in the year, Sharon Osbourne announced the star-studded Back to the Beginning lineup. At the time, Soundgarden was slated to be at the historic event alongside the likes of Slayer, Metallica, and Guns N’ Roses. However, when the day came, the legendary Seattle-based grunge band was absent.
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Yesterday (July 13), the band took to social media to reveal why they weren’t able to make it to the show. They also took time to show their gratitude and admiration for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.
Soundgarden Addresses Their Absence from Back to the Beginning
Yesterday, Soundgarden shared a post containing several photos of the band’s members alongside members of Black Sabbath. In the post’s lengthy caption, they shared why they couldn’t make it to Back to the Beginning.
“We are very grateful to Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill, as well as Sharon Osbourne and music director, Tom Morello, for the honor and invitation to Soundgarden to perform at the Back to the Beginning festival,” they wrote. “We are super bummed and regret that we were unable to coordinate the schedules of our individual and collective projects to attend and contribute to the festival. The warmth, love, and support from the Black Sabbath team has been a continuing source of encouragement and strength throughout our career,” they added.
“Thank you for an astounding career that provided us and your legion of fans with a lifetime of beauty, horror, love, power, happiness, melancholy, and a profoundly sublime, yet viscerally rocking transcendence informed by both doom and hope,” the band wrote, addressing Black Sabbath. “Your majestic brilliance has inspired greatness in scores of other bands, musicians, and songwriters. However, the crown will forever remain yours,” they added.
Featured Image by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Chris Cornell Estate
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