This Isn’t the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye

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This Isn’t the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye originally appeared on Parade.

With the big "Back to the Beginning" farewell Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath concert extravaganza set for July 5, fans might recall that this isn’t the first time that the iconic frontman and hard rock legends have said goodbye.

Back in 2016, the band was on a tour billed as “The End,” to support their 2013 album 13. That album opens with a song titled “End of the Beginning,” in which Osbourne sings “Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?”

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Back then, Black Sabbath discussed doing one final album followed by another tour but decided to scrap their plans for another studio effort and instead opted to hit the road on a four-leg trek that hit Australia and New Zealand, then Europe, before closing in North America.

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In advance of that tour, this writer interviewed Osbourne and bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler for Yahoo! Music in Osbourne’s office, in the back of his Beverly Hills estate.

Both Sabbath legends said during that interview the decision to forgo another studio effort came down primarily to a matter of time. “It would have taken another three years to write and record another album,” Osbourne explained. “We just felt we wanted to tour.”

Related: Ozzy Isn’t the Only Legendary Artist Giving a Farewell Performance—This Classic Rocker Is Also Bowing Out

Back in 2016, Osbourne was already talking like the band was finished after “The End” tour.

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“I’m glad we’re all still alive. I’m glad we can still play. I’m glad that we all still want to play, and I’m glad it’s the end because we didn’t want to fizzle out,” he added. “To end up with a final thing with the guys I started off with is great. I’m not saying I’m retiring, because I’m still going to be doing some kind of musical thing, but it’s been a great journey. We never thought when we first went into the studio in 1969, early 1970, that we were going to last five years, and here we are nearly 50 years up the road and we’re still active. That’s what really is important to me.

"One of my favorite things is we weren’t a band that was created by some business guy in London,” Osbourne continued. “We’re four guys. I was in a band with Terry [Geezer], [guitarist] Tony [Iommi] was in a band with [drummer] Bill [Ward]. I went to school with Tony. We came from a three-mile radius of each other, and we formed a band to have a bit of fun and here we are on this amazing journey. I’m glad it’s coming to an end on a high note, for a change.”

This Isn’t the First Time These Hard Rock Legends Have Said Goodbye first appeared on Parade on Jul 4, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.