One Year Later: Artists Reflect on Black Sabbath's Historic Back to the Beginning Concert

Sunday marks the first anniversary of the Back to the Beginning concert, which took place on July 5, 2025, in Birmingham, England. The event featured a lineup of hard rock and metal bands before the final live performance by the original Black Sabbath lineup and Ozzy Osbourne, who died on July 22, 2025.

Several artists who performed at the concert reflected on what the event meant to them.

Tool's Maynard James Keenan shared, "In the beginning was Black Sabbath, and then everything else fits neatly below when it comes to metal. They were it. So, it was an honor."

Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell said, "Just the fact that that was able to happen and [Ozzy] was able to have that moment, we were invited to be a part of it, and celebrate the man and the band, I mean, it's one of the most important things that I was ever included in, and well deserved, as well."

Halestorm's Lzzy Hale reflected, "Everyone was having the same conversations, like, 'Oh, we can't believe we're here,' but also, we wouldn't be the rockers that we are today without these guys, without Ozzy and without Black Sabbath. So just to get to be a part of that was just, we're so grateful, what a tremendous honor."

Mastodon's Brann Dailor recalled, "When we got to go into 'Supernaut,' I was just, like, 'Oh man, this is, like, the biggest moment of your life right now happening.' But I just was pretty taken by the outpouring of love and respect and community. It was all for Ozzy, it was all for Sabbath, all for those guys."

Lamb of God's Randy Blythe added, "A show like that will never happen again, for me, ever. It was a magic thing to be a part of, I'm very grateful."

The anniversary serves as a reminder of a concert that brought together artists from across the hard rock and metal community to celebrate Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne's legacy.

Content for this summary was derived from original reporting by ABC Audio, as featured on 105.7 The Point