Billy Corgan is one of the many artists helping to honor Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne as the “Iron Man” outfit reunites for one final concert on Saturday in their hometown of Birmingham, England. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman tells ABC Audio that he’s “truly humbled and honored” to be part of the event, dubbed Back to the Beginning.
“Sharon [Osbourne] asked me and I couldn’t have been happier to accept,” Corgan says.
Along with being Sabbath’s farewell show, Back to the Beginning will mark Ozzy’s last live performance.
“The more I think about it, the more I’m just amazed that, as a lifelong fan of the band, I’ve been listening to them for almost 50 years, the chance to share the stage with them and be part of this amazing tribute to Ozzy, and of course the band, is just really humbling,” Corgan says. “It’s one of those times where I have a hard time finding the right words.”
In addition to paying tribute to Sabbath and Ozzy, Corgan will honor his hometown of Chicago during his Back to the Beginning performance. He’s set to perform alongside Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, who will be the show’s music director, and Tool‘s Adam Jones, both of whom also grew up around the Windy City.
“You’ve got these three guys who grew up in a very close proximity who went on to form bands that were really defined by the guitar, but in wildly different ways,” Corgan says. “I think it’s such a cool story.”
The Back to the Beginning lineup also includes Tool, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm and Alice in Chains, among many others. The concert will stream live online.
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