INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Black Sabbath: Legendary Band Announces ‘Farewell’ Concert

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 07:32 PST, Mar 23, 2015

Legendary metal band Black Sabbath have revealed their “Farewell” concert as part of the official announcement of this year’s Ozzfest Japan lineup, capping a year in which the group will record one final album.

Ozzfest organizer Sharon Osbourne revealed the news in a videotaped message, during which she announced the festival’s Japanese dates, according to Blabbermouth. The festival is set to take place at Makuhari Messe, outside Tokyo, and Black Sabbath will headline the second night, November 22.

“Ozzfest will be back in Japan on November 21st and 22nd. And this will be Black Sabbath’s farewell,” Osbourne revealed. “We’re also announcing Korn, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Now you can’t miss that.”

According to Consequence of Sound, drummer Bill Ward has also been invited to take part in Black Sabbath’s farewell concert. Though the group reunited in 2012 to record their latest album, 13, Ward chose not to be involved in the record or its subsequent tour due to financial conflicts with his fellow band members.

Singer Ozzy Osbourne confirmed that Black Sabbath has reached its final year, according to Guitar Player, citing a desire on the part of guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler to stop touring.

“[It will be] our last hurrah,” he said. “Then it’s no more Sabbath at all. We’re disbanding the name and everything.”

Black Sabbath initially had to cancel several tour dates following guitarist Tony Iommi’s 2012 cancer diagnosis, as the Inquisitr previously reported. Following his treatment, the band was able to set out headlining festivals, eventually embarking on a full tour.

Last year, Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne revealed in an interview that the band intends to record a final album this year. Citing Iommi’s health, Osbourne said that any future work from Sabbath would be “sooner rather than later.”

“The whole Sabbath experience this time around was great. We all made friends, we didn’t f*** around, we all knew that we had a job to do, and we did it. It was a lot of fun. So we’re going to do one more album, and a final tour.”

Though the band has yet to write any new material, producer Rick Rubin, who helped helm their last album, is likely to return for their final project. Black Sabbath’s last record, the first to feature the original lineup (sans Ward) in 35 years, went to number one in both America and the U.K.

[Image via Twitter/@GuitarPlayerNow]

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