Black Sabbath took their final bow on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, prior to Ozzy Osbourne‘s passing. Musical director, Rage Against The Machine‘s Tom Morello, initially reported that the farewell show and charity concert, supporting Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice, raised $190 million between ticket sales, merchandise, and pay-per-view livestream tickets. Many outlets, including Billboard, also shared his figure along with the stats of 40,000 ticketholders and 5.8 million livestream viewers.
However, the concert, which boasted appearances from YUNGBLUD, Gojira, Mastodon, Halestorm, Metallica, and many more notable acts, likely made less than that, according to a recent Sharon Osbourne interview.
Sharon sat down with Pollstar for a post-concert chat, published on August 5 and conducted on July 17, and called the $190 million estimation “Just ridiculous.”
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She added, “It takes a really long time [to get counts], because we’ve had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it’ll take a good six weeks to get the final number.”
Plus, other outliers exist, such as YUNGBLUD’s streaming revenue from his “Changes” live cover, which will go directly to the three charities.
Additionally, while millions may have tuned into livestreams from concert clubs, bars, and friends’ homes, the actual livestream ticket counts are 275,000, per Sharon.
Despite the misinformed price reported online, the event was a success, and the charities will see a decent chunk of change soon when the numbers are finalized. She says, “I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event. And it’s the best way then to go home to where it all started, to go to his favorite stadium in the world (Villa Park), which is [home to] his beloved Aston Villa (soccer) team, and it was just perfect. It was the perfect storm, put it that way.”
For those who missed the livestream, Mercury Studios noted that they’re working to bring Back To The Beginning: Ozzy’s Final Bow to the big screen with a theatrical release in “early 2026.” The studio says, “The feature-length concert film will be a big-screen celebration of Ozzy Osbourne and the legacy of Black Sabbath, capturing the raw power and emotional weight of Ozzy’s final bow in his hometown of Birmingham.”
Stay tuned for more info.
