Billboard's report last month that Back to the Beginning -- the all-day heavy metal festival on July 5th in Birmingham, England that was capped off by the last-ever performances by both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath -- raising upwards of $200-million for three charities and being the highest-grossing charity concert of all time is not true.
Sharon Osbourne, in an interview on July 17th with concert industry publication Pollstar, says, "One of the things that’s frightening me is all this false press about [how], we’ve made $140 million and all of this, and I’m like, 'God, I wish we could have, for one gig.' It’s just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the Internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I’m like, 'Where does this stuff come from?' ... Thank you, Billboard, for getting it wrong. Just ridiculous."
In terms of the final accounting, she says, "It takes a really long time, because we’ve had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it’ll take a good six weeks to get the final number. Because we’re selling merch for another two weeks from the gig. So, we’ve got another two weeks of sales yet to add to it. It’ll be another four weeks and it’ll be done."
Proceeds from the show will support Cure Parkinson's, the Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.
And as for what Ozzy thought of the day, Sharon says, "He turned around and he said to me that night, 'I had no idea that so many people liked me.'"
Ozzy Osbourne was 76 when he died of a heart attack at his estate in Buckinghamshire, England, where he was buried last Thursday.
IN OTHER OZZY RELATED NEWS.....
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, a onetime member of Ozzy Osbourne's band, was one of those invited to his private funeral on the grounds of his estate in Buckinghamshire, England last Thursday, July 31st.
Appearing on SiriusXM's Faction Talk, he said, "It was a small group of people, but it was very, very beautiful... It was very sad, but at the same time some of the speeches were — as you could imagine — pretty funny. And there were a lot of tears... [Ozzy Osbourne was 76 when he died of a heart attack at his estate in Buckinghamshire, England, where he was buried last Thursday. bassist] Geezer [Butler] broke down into tears. He had a hard time, obviously, speaking, and then he came back up and he delivered an amazing eulogy."
Trujillo also said the weather was a factor.
"When Kelly [Osbourne] was singing -- the wind blew her lyrics away. It was almost like Ozzy was having fun with her. And then when Geezer spoke the sun came out. I'm not kidding. The sun actually came out, and then it was beautiful from that moment on — a very magical moment.
"And again, it's sad, but at the same time, people [were] sharing stories. And all of a sudden, there was laughter... There were so many stories... So, it felt like there was a closure from this. And I'm glad that we went — my wife Chloe and I — and shared that and were able to have that moment with the family and everything. So, it was very beautiful. And again, heartfelt words from so many people and kind of reconnecting with different musicians and bandmates, crew members, all that."