Ozzy Osbourne on stage at 'Back to Beginning'
Photo credit: Ross Halfin

On Saturday 5 July, fans descended onto Villa Park in Birmingham for ‘Back to the Beginning’ – Black Sabbath’s epic farewell concert.

The event featured the original members of Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward reunite for the first time in 20 years, to play in their hometown of Birmingham. For Ozzy, who lived with Parkinson’s, the show marked his final performance on stage before his sad passing on 22 July.

Speaking on Ozzy’s passing, Helen Matthews, said: “We are devastated to hear the news about Ozzy and all our thoughts are with Sharon and his family.

It seems incredible that a couple of short weeks ago Ozzy, Black Sabbath and all the acts that contributed to ‘Back to the Beginning’ produced the most phenomenal and vibrant concert at Villa Park.

We are so grateful to Ozzy for all he has done to significantly raise the profile of Parkinson’s and put a spotlight on the work of Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice. On behalf of us all at Cure Parkinson’s – thank you.”

The gig featured an incredible all-star line-up of other heavy metal bands and performers including Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, Tool and Guns N’ Roses.

Over 40,000 people attended the event – with 5.8 million people estimated to be watching via an official livestream.

Yungblud performs at 'Back to the Beginning'
Photo credit: Ross Halfin (Kazuyo Horie)

Cure Parkinson’s was a beneficiary of the event, alongside charities Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the three charities.

Lucky enough to attend was the winner of Cure Parkinson’s prize draw, Sandra Fioravanti. Speaking about the event, she said: “I was so happy, lucky, grateful and honoured to win a ticket for the latest Black Sabbath concert. It was the most exciting, beautiful, thrilling concert of my life. It will always remain in my head and my heart.”

Also attending was David Jones, who won the Movers & Shakers prize draw. David said the concert was “a crazy train of emotions – thank you to Black Sabbath, Ozzy and Cure Parkinson’s for the gig of a lifetime!”

Some of the Cure Parkinson’s team were fundraising outside the stadium and were able to soak up all the excitement from the event. Speaking to BBC News, our CEO Helen Matthews said the event was “absolutely fantastic,” adding that “the atmosphere is electric. Everyone has been so generous. What a brilliant way to raise the profile of all three charities.”

Cure Parkinson’s Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Andy Simons told BBC Radio WM: “It’s a very exciting thing for us to be involved in, and we’re so grateful.”

Addressing Ozzy directly he said: “This is making an enormous difference, it already has, because you mentioning us in your publicity has enabled us as a charity to reach more people with Parkinson’s around the country than we had before. All hail the prince of darkness!”

We are hugely grateful to Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne for letting us be part of such a momentous event and for helping support our mission to slow, stop and reverse Parkinson’s.

Event highlights:

Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne hold their farewell concert – BBC News

Meet the charities receiving Birmingham Black Sabbath gig’s proceeds – BBC News