Since announcing the Back to the Beginning concert a few months ago, all of heavy metal looked to celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne. Bringing back the original lineup of Black Sabbath for one more show with the Prince of Darkness, the event generated a massive amount of interest. And it wasn’t just from fans as groups like Metallica, Anthrax, Pantera, and more jumped at the chance to be part of the historic moment. With the concert a massive success, it appeared that the event set a new record as it became the highest-grossing charity concert in history.
Before the first band took the stage, Ozzy and his wife, Sharon Osbourne, made it known that the event was not a cash grab. Wanting to only honor Ozzy and his decades in the music industry, the couple decided to distribute the earnings from the concert to three organizations – Cure Parkinson’s, Acorn Children’s Hospice, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
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Ozzy Osbourne Exits The Stage On Top Of Heavy Metal
While fans clamored to get a ticket to the event, organizers decided to make sure every person got a chance to see the show with a livestream broadcast. Allowing fans to purchase a livestream ticket for $30, the total for the Back to the Beginning concert was $190 million.
Although a normal concert or festival needed to pay the bands for performing, all bands taking part in the celebration did so for free. Taking over Villa Park in Birmingham, Sharon admitted, “Birmingham is a city which means so much to Ozzy. When it comes to heavy metal music, Black Sabbath forming and his love of Aston Villa — it all started here.”
Looking at the numbers, the Back to the Beginning concert was now considered the highest-grossing charity event of all time. It surpassed FireAid, which brought in $100 million, Live Aid, which grossed $100 million, Farm Aid with $80 million, and Hope For Haiti with $57 million.
Marking the end of his amazing career in heavy metal, Ozzy, like he always did, made sure to go out with a bang. And with all of heavy metal behind him, he did it by setting a record.
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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