Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne raised $190 million for charities during the band’s final concert a few weeks before his death, according to the event’s musical director, Tom Morello.
Black Sabbath reunited one final time at the Back to the Beginning concert at Villa Park in Birmingham. Several other heavy-rock legends participated, including Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.
The proceeds were split between Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice.
Morello, who is also a Rage Against The Machine guitarist, posted a photo of Osbourne performing on Instagram with the caption: “‘Back to the Beginning’ More than 190 million dollars will be donated to houses and hospitales [sic] for children.”
“Boom. We set out to not just create the greatest day in the history of heavy metal,” he wrote. “THANKYOU [Ozzy Osbourne] for trusting me to be the Musical Director of the ‘Back to the Beginning’ show. It was over a year of hard work but heavy metal was the music that made me love music and it was a labor of love.”
Ozzy Osbourne’s battle with Parkinson’s
Known to fans as “The Prince of Darkness” and the “Godfather of Heavy Metal,” Osbourne died at 76 on July 22.
The frontman of 1970s heavy metal band Black Sabbath earned his infamy by biting the head off a bat on stage and pursuing a drug-fueled lifestyle before reinventing himself as a lovable if often foul-mouthed reality TV star. He always insisted he thought it was a toy until he bit into it, realized his mistake, and rushed to the hospital for a rabies shot. He later sold branded bat soft toys with a removable head.
“I’ve done some bad things in my time,” he said in a 2010 biography. “But I ain’t the devil. I’m just John Osbourne: a working class kid from Aston who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time.”
John Michael Osbourne was the fourth of six children, growing up in Birmingham, England. He struggled with dyslexia, left school at age 15, did a series of menial jobs, and at one point served a brief prison sentence for burglary. Then came Black Sabbath.
Osbourne is survived by his wife and manager, Sharon, five children, and several grandchildren.