Tom Morello Shares Heartbreaking Realization About Ozzy Osbourne’s Last Show, “Back to the Beginning”

Everyone knew that they were watching someone special when they tuned in (or attended) Ozzy Osbourne’s last show in his native Birmingham in July 2025. Osbourne’s decades-long career as the frontman of Black Sabbath and the prolifically wild solo artist behind hits like “Crazy Train” and “Flying High Again” was coming to a close.

Videos by American Songwriter

Of course, hindsight often lends certainty to situations that, at the time of their initial unfolding, were shadowed with the unknown. Ozzy fans knew that this was the end of something. They would have had no way of definitively knowing the Prince of Darkness would pass from this earthly realm just a short time later.

But Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, who served as musical director for the monumental event, thinks that maybe, just maybe, Osbourne knew more than he was letting on that day.

Ozzy Osbourne’s Last Show Was a Celebration For The Ages

When Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne first reached out to Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello to be the musical director for “Back to the Beginning,” the Prince of Darkness’ final show in his hometown of Birmingham, England, Morello knew it was a vast undertaking. Or, rather, he knew it had to be. “It was over a year before [the show] when they reached out,” Morello recalled to Chicago’s Q101. “I was like, ‘If we’re going to do this thing, it’s got to be the greatest day in the history of heavy metal. If we do this right, it’s going to be the most important day in the history of that entire genre.”

So, Morello set off to make that happen for his childhood musical heroes. In addition to the star performers of the show, Ozzy Osbourne and his band, Black Sabbath, “Back to the Beginning” featured Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Jack Black, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Fred Durst, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and two all-star groups curated by Tom Morello. The event had a truly star-studded lineup that celebrated the absolute best of the best in heavy metal from start to finish.

“On the day, a million things could have gone wrong, and maybe like three things did,” Morello said. “It felt like a spiritually great moment for all fans of rock ‘n’ roll. Heavy metal was the music that made me love music, and Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. Ozzy Osbourne was the artist who found Randy Rhodes. That was the poster that was on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day.”

Did The Prince of Darkness Know More Than We Did?

Anyone who watched Ozzy Osbourne’s last show could see that he was in failing health. The Prince of Darkness still delivered a stunning performance from his all-black throne, singing the hits that defined his decades-long career, complete with the wild facial expressions that would make the crowd of 45,000 heavy metal fans roar with appreciation. Nevertheless, seeing the Black Sabbath frontman in this state was a grim reminder that even the greatest rock stars of all time are mere mortals. And Tom Morello suspects that might have been on Osbourne’s mind during his last show, too.

The heavy metal pioneer died on July 22, 2025, just under three weeks after his final show. While it’s impossible to say whether Osbourne knew just how little time he had left, Morello said he couldn’t have ended on a higher note. “The fact that he lived to play and feel that love and to one more time, you know, do ‘Paranoid’, do ‘Crazy Train’,” Morello told Q101. “If you’ve got to go out, it really felt like he knew. He had been frail for a while.”

Morello said that he hoped “Back to the Beginning” allowed Osbourne to witness the immense impact he made on the world one last time before he left it. And rather than dwelling on Osbourne’s frailty or tragic passing, Morello said, “I’d like to dwell on what an amazing and incredible, groundbreaking career he had.”

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images