A genre-defining era came to a spectacular end last month when Ozzy Osbourne reunited with Black Sabbath bandmates Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill War one final time. Multiple acts like Alice in Chains, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and more also took the stage at Aston’s Villa Park in Birmingham, England, to send off the seminal heavy metal legends. Sadly, Ozzy died unexpectedly just 17 days after Black Sabbath’s final bow. But Alice in Chains founder Jerry Cantrell is grateful that the Prince of Darkness was able to witness his global impact firsthand.
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Jerry Cantrell: Black Sabbath Is “Part of All Our DNA”
Jerry Cantrell’s love for the darker side of music dates back to his days as choir president at Spanaway Lake High School in Spanaway, Washington. “We performed a cappella Gregorian chants from the 14th and 15th centuries,” he said in a 2002 interview with New York Daily News. “It was scary church music.”
Cantrell helped found Alice in Chains after meeting Layne Staley at a Seattle party in 1987. Staley, who died from an overdose in 2002 at age 34, regarded Black Sabbath as one of his earliest influences. Although Alice in Chains is rightfully associated with the grunge movement of the ’90s, much of their sound has its roots in the kind of heavy metal Black Sabbath made famous.
“Black Sabbath is such a seminal band and a huge part of all of our DNA,” Jerry Cantrell recently told Ultimate Classic Rock. “If you play heavy rock and roll, Sabbath is a pretty big strand of your DNA.”
Cantrell joined bandmates Mike Inez, William DuVall, and Sean Kinney onstage at “Back to the Beginning.” Their set included a cover of “Fairies Wear Boots,” off Black Sabbath’s definitive 1970 album Paranoid.
“It’s Something That Will Never Happen Again
More than a month later, Jerry Cantrell, 59, hasn’t stopped gushing over the “magical” opportunity. “It was like the world’s biggest rock and roll high school reunion,” he said. “Everybody was there and the vibe was so cool.”
“I was just happy for Ozzy and Sabbath… To have that experience and feel the love that they deserve, it was a beautiful thing,” he continued. “It’s something that will never happen again, ever. I don’t think there’s a performer like Ozzy or a band like Black Sabbath that could pull something off like that. You couldn’t f—ing write it. I mean, you wouldn’t believe it… They got to do it the way that they wanted to do it. He got to have his last show and we got to be there to celebrate him and be a part of it.”
Featured image by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns
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