The Black Sabbath reunion was a truly heavy metal farewell for Ozzy Osbourne

Being successful the assemblage for Ozzy Osbourne's Back To The Beginning show, I felt incredibly privileged to ticker his last performance.

Like the 42,000 fans who packed Villa Park successful Birmingham to spot his Black Sabbath reunion connected 5 July, I knew this was a goodbye - but had nary thought the farewell would travel truthful soon.

Osbourne sang from a throne, encrusted with skulls, of course.

But contempt the seated performance, his dependable carried crossed Villa Park and helium was much than susceptible of giving the assemblage a fewer flickers of the Prince of Darkness - rising up connected to the signifier arsenic the ominous O Fortuna soundtracked a montage of footage from his career.

"Let the madness begin!" helium cried arsenic helium started the show. Singing instrumentality favourites including Mr Crowley and Crazy Train, and Iron Man and Paranoid with Black Sabbath, helium conducted the assemblage to sing "louder, louder", and "go f****** crazy".

Latest: Tributes paid to Ozzy Osbourne

On signifier earlier on, determination were performances passim the time from the likes of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, Yungblud and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

"Without Sabbath, determination would beryllium nary Metallica," frontman James Hetfield enactment it simply during their performance. It was a sentiment echoed by galore different artists connected stage.

In the crowd, the emotion and gratitude was besides palpable.

Ben Sutton, 24, from Chester, told america beforehand: "I consciousness similar it's important - we're of the younger procreation - for america to spot immoderate of the practice and past of the genre we love, metallic successful general. It's specified an honour to accidental goodbye to him."

Steve Townson, from Lincolnshire, said: "I saw him the archetypal clip circular and the information that he's inactive going is incredible, isn't it? I was determination astatine the start, I'm blessed to beryllium present astatine the end."

But possibly Anthrax's Scott Ian summed it up best. "We're not present to accidental goodbye. We're conscionable present to accidental convey you."

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It's the benignant of amusement that for galore others mightiness good person been organised with the bands helium loved following his death.

But Ozzy's determination to execute 1 last time, contempt his wellness problems - and with his woman Sharon down him each measurement of the way, making definite it happened - meant helium got to prima and behaviour his ain tribute.

A genuinely dense metallic farewell.