If it weren’t for a backstage altercation, it appears that at least one more band would have been on the bill for the upcoming live sendoff for the original lineup of heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and their legendary frontman Ozzy Osbourne. Osbourne’s management, Sharon Osbourne, who is in charge of this live spectacle, “Back To The Beginning,” told Metal Hammer that she had to withdraw their artist from the forthcoming event due to a disagreement with another manager.
I had a huge, huge to-do with a manager over this celebration for Ozzy and Sabbath. And it was probably the worst way I’ve felt in years. And I don’t care what this person says about me, thinks about it, because he doesn’t know me. And he’s now going around making up bullshit lies because I threw his band off the bill. I don’t care what people say. Because do you know what? I don’t love them. I care about people who love me, what they say about me. You can’t care what an industry says, because you don’t love them, so how can it hurt you? It doesn’t.
Osbourne clarified that the artist who was kicked out of this next live concert isn’t Iron Maiden, even though Metal Hammer brought up the 2005 incident in which she famously had Iron Maiden pelted onstage with eggs and other objects during a “Ozzfest” stop in San Bernardino, California.
Oh god, no. Ozzy only has respect for the guys in Maiden. And he didn’t even know what Bruce was doing. I never told him, until the night that it happened when it was the last show, and he just looked at me and goes, ‘You’re terrible.’
Due to Tool‘s vocalist Maynard James Keenan’s candid evaluation of Ozzy’s physical health issues, there was a lot of conjecture that the band might be the one being fired. It’s still unclear who was fired. Given that the primary lineup hasn’t changed since it was revealed, it’s possible that the artist wasn’t revealed to the public at all or was just included in the concert’s other scheduled live jam session.