Recommendations of the Editorial team
On July 5, 2025, Black Sabbath said goodbye to the stage under the title “Back to the Beginning” in her hometown Birmingham with a four-song set. As guitar legend Tony Iommi revealed in an interview, it should have been a longer set at the Black Sabbath party concert.
“We went through seven pieces,” said Iommi in an interview with Eddie Trunk at Siriusxm. “And then there were six.” Ultimately, only four songs were played. According to Iommi, the reason was the strict curfew in Villa Park Stadium. “You couldn’t cover up, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened. You would probably have just stalled you,” said Iommi.
Rage-Against-the-Machine guitarist Tom Morello was responsible for the meticulously planned stage program. Iommi expressly praises his work. “How Tom Morello organized it was simply incredible. He did a really great job. They worked exactly on the minute, it was a put on and started,” said the guitarist.
Black-Sabbath party concert: Which songs almost existed
In an interview, Iommi revealed which songs Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler actually wanted to play at the Black Sabbath party: “We started with ‘Fairies Wear Boots’, we continued to play ‘Black Sabbath’.”
Iommi tells; “It was a bit difficult for Bill because he hadn’t played the songs for so long. Geezer and of course I had played them on the last tour. What shouldn’t be forgotten: Bill was no longer on tour for a long time. In any case, we could have made six pieces, but ultimately four songs have become.“
In the end, Black Sabbath played the classics “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, “Nib” and “Paranoid” – great set, but of course the additional songs for the fans would have been great.