Tom Morello has spoken about how “honoured” he is to be the musical director of Black Sabbath‘s final-ever show this summer.
The iconic heavy metal band will return for one last concert at Villa Park in their hometown of Birmingham on Saturday July 5. The upcoming show will see the group’s most iconic line-up – comprising frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – play live together for the first time in two decades.
They’ve got an all-star line-up joining them which Morello helped to put together. It includes the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, recent Grammy-winners Gojira, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Tool, Jason Momoa and Rival Sons.
“Heavy metal is the music that made me love music, and Black Sabbath is the band that invented heavy metal,” Morello told Chicago radio station WBEZ. So, when Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne asked me to be the musical director of what’s going to be the last Black Sabbath show — the last Ozzy Osbourne show in the soccer stadium that’s like a half-block down from where Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, the bass player of Black Sabbath, grew up — I was honored to do that.
“Right now, we have, like, 14 bands. You know, it’s Metallica, it’s Guns N’Roses. It’s, like, all the biggest bands in the history of heavy metal. The show is gonna be about 10 hours long, but it’s gonna be a salute to a genre that people all around the world love. You know, it’s been the music that has really made me love music. I’m interested in a lot of different kinds of music now, but I never would have been interested in any kind of music had it not been for metal.”
When asked if he is performing himself, Morello said: “Oh, of course, I will be up there. Speaking of Northern Illinois, this may be a little bit of a spoiler alert, but Adam Jones, the guitarist of Tool, he and I went to Libertyville High School together and played in a band. Billy Corgan, the singer of Smashing Pumpkins, grew up a few suburbs over. The three of us are going to play together for the first time ever at the show. So, there’ll be an 847 connection.”
Sharon Osbourne and Tony Iommi recently spoke to NME about the show. On the subject of Morello acting as musical director, Sharon said: “He is so knowledgeable on all different genres of music, but especially Sabbath. He’s really passionate about everything he does and is such a great mate. He volunteered and the stuff that he’s managing to put together has been amazing. He’s going to take care of all the different bands that are playing together and arranging who does what song. It’s a huge undertaking, and he can manage it all.”
While Ozzy Osbourne’s performance with Black Sabbath has been confirmed, the extent of his involvement – given his ailing health – has been in question. Now, however, the legendary frontman and Prince of Darkness has opened up on just how much fans can expect him to be onstage with Black Sabbath come July.
He said of the upcoming sold-out gig on the latest episode of his Ozzy Speaks show on SiriusXM: “I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable.”
Osbourne, who last performed a full set in 2018, added: “I am trying to get back on my feet. When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”
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