Tool drummer Danny Carey, Blink-182’s Travis Barker and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith have come together for a drum-off at Black Sabbath’s final ever show.
The gig, dubbed ‘Back To The Beginning’, took place at Villa Park in Birmingham on Saturday night (July 5). It marked the final farewell for the iconic heavy metal pioneers, with founding members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward each playing alongside each other for the first time since 2005.
The four-piece were joined on the bill by other huge names in the genre including Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and the surviving members of Soundgarden.
Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello served as musical director for the concert, which was live-streamed around the globe, and actor Jason Momoa hosted the event.
In one of the many star-studded portions of the show, three huge names from the rock and metal world came together for a drum-off. It took place midway through the night, and saw the drummers from Tool, Blink-182 and Red Hot Chili Peppers flex their skills while covering the Sabbath track ‘Symptom Of The Universe’.
As if that wasn’t enough big names for the rendition, they were also backed by a supergroup comprising Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, bassist Rudy Sarzo (known for his work with both Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne’s solo material), and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
Other highlights of the night included mini sets from huge names in metal including Gojira, Mastodon, Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Alice In Chains and Halestorm. Later, members of The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Blink-182 joined forces for a Led Zeppelin cover, while Yungblud led another supergroup in a version of ‘Changes’, which they dedicated to the late footballer Diogo Jota.
The livestream access to “Back to the Beginning” is still available to buy now.
While the Prince Of Darkness took to the stage to play ‘War Pigs’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Paranoid’, and ‘N.I.B.’, the singer has not played a full gig since 2018. This is because he has undergone multiple surgeries and experienced numerous health problems, including Parkinson’s disease in recent years.
As the four-piece introduced classic track ‘Paranoid’ to bring the show to an end, the frontman said: “It’s the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts”.
