Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has described Black Sabbath’s final concert as “beautiful and bittersweet,” sharing an emotional tribute to the heavy metal legends following their last-ever performance in Birmingham.
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Held at Villa Park on Saturday (July 5), the monumental show saw Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward reunite for the first time since 2005, with an all-star lineup of rock and metal acts paying tribute to the pioneering band.
Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, KoRn, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler were among those performing, while Jason Momoa hosted and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello served as musical director.
Corgan joined the celebration as part of a supergroup alongside Tyler, Sammy Hagar, Tool’s Adam Jones and Morello, delivering powerful covers of Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” and Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind.”
In a heartfelt post on social media, Corgan reflected on the significance of the night. “I first heard Black Sabbath on my uncle’s stereo some 50 years ago,” he wrote. “So it was surreal to stand on a football pitch with 45,000 strong to witness the end of this grand, institutional group who has touched me personally, professionally, and at times even intimately in stolen moments of work and camaraderie.”
He went on to thank Sharon Osbourne, who designed the live show, for inviting him to participate, and praised the performances of fellow musicians across the nearly 10-hour event.
“Music is, of course, the soundtrack to our lives, but yesterday in my estimation was something truly special. As a three-dimensional soundtrack was being crafted in real time. All to celebrate this coming home for the band once known as Earth,” he added.
Corgan concluded his tribute with a striking image: “Every great journey has trials and tribulations, tragedies and surprise. Therein lies the magic, therein lie the tears. I both whooped yesterday in sheer exultation to be in the right spot at the right moment, and I wept silently as my heroes fell on their wizardly, mythic sword to bid us farewell.”
“We have the music, and we have them in our hearts. You don’t have to be a musician to understand. But it does help, at least if you’re trying to decode that which is elusive in the cosmos.”
He added, “Now the band is both here and not here; with us, and yet gone. As it should be.”
The farewell concert also featured other standout collaborations, including a drum-off between Tool’s Danny Carey, Blink-182’s Travis Barker, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith during Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe,” and a Led Zeppelin cover from Morello, Tyler, Barker and The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood. Yungblud also led a moving rendition of “Changes,” dedicated to late footballer Diogo Jota.
The full concert is available to stream as a one-off event replay.
