According to Metal Injection, Sharon Osbourne has publicly pushed back against widespread media claims suggesting that Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert, Back To The Beginning, brought in close to $200 million for charitable causes. The much-anticipated event, which took place on July 5 at Birmingham’s Villa Park in the UK, served both as a tribute to Black Sabbath’s legendary career and as Ozzy Osbourne’s final live performance.
Ozzy tragically passed away on July 22 of a heart attack, just over two weeks after the concert. While the show was celebrated as a heartfelt sendoff to the heavy metal icon, recent reports about its fundraising figures have stirred controversy and, according to Sharon, are simply untrue.
In a July 17 interview with Pollstar, Sharon firmly dismissed rumors that the concert raised nearly $200 million (approximately £140 million), calling the reports misleading and blown out of proportion.
“One of the things that’s frightening me is all this false press about [how], we’ve made $140 million and all of this, and I’m like, God, I wish we could have, for one gig,” Sharon stated. “It’s just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I’m like, Where does this stuff come from?”
The inflated numbers appear to have stemmed from a since-deleted Instagram post by Tom Morello, the concert’s music director, who claimed around $190 million was raised for charitable organizations. Outlets like Billboard and The Guardian repeated these figures, referencing sources that said nearly 6 million people paid to stream the concert, bringing in an estimated $150 million in revenue.
However, Sharon clarified that those totals are not just incorrect but premature. “It takes a really long time [to arrive at the final number that will be donated to charity], 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,” she explained.
When Pollstar’s Ray Waddell pointed out how these inflated sums might mislead donors or beneficiaries, Sharon agreed. “Oh my God! It’s the Children’s Hospital, a children’s hospice and Parkinson’s research. Everybody thinks that they’re going to cure everything with this much money, but it’s not the real world.”
Despite the confusion over fundraising totals, Sharon highlighted the emotional resonance and historical significance of the event. The show featured a special performance by Ozzy and appearances from renowned metal acts including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, and Tool.
“It was a phenomenal event. It was the first time, I think, that anybody’s gone into retirement and done it, where the show is streamed and it goes to charity. So it’s the first time anybody has said goodnight like that, it’s the perfect way, when you’ve had such a long career, to end it. I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event.”
