Tony Iommi says Black Sabbath rehearsed additional songs for final performance

Mercury Studios

The event raised money for three charities

Tony Iommi says Black Sabbath had rehearsed six to seven songs for its final performance last weekend at Back to the Beginning in England. The band performed four songs from its classic catalog -- “War Pigs,” “Iron Man,” “N.I.B.,” and “Paranoid” -- following a five-song solo set by Ozzy Osbourne. However, Iommi tells Eddie Trunk this week on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation that the metal band had prepped “Black Sabbath” and “Fairies Wear Boots,” but didn't perform them because of Ozzy's solo set.

"[B]y the time we were finished talking about what's, you know, our health and everything else, and then we sort of went into, just started playing and that's really what we did. Just started, we worked out what we were gonna play, what songs we were gonna play. And it was really a case of how long Ozzy could do it, really, because we didn't know, you know, with him doing his own set, which I said to him, I didn't think he should do because I didn't want him to get burnt out by the time he come with us. But, you know, he didn't, and he did his own set. And we didn't know, we ended up doing four songs where we put aside sort of six or seven, but it worked out that we did four. So that was fine."

Osbourne, who has recently suffered multiple health issues, sat center stage on a custom gothic throne to perform “I Don’t Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and “Crazy Train” with his solo band right before Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward joined on stage. Many were concerned about Ozzy's stamina as he returned to performing for the first time in years.

"[T]hat was my concern and that was all our concern actually, Geezer and myself and Bill we thought that he should have a longer break and we didn't really know how we were gonna do it because the original plan was we got a curtain and the curtain was gonna be raised and we'd all be there. But of course, on the day, well, the day before, when we went down for a soundcheck to the stadium, the curtain didn't work and they thought best not to use it because it was windy. So then we had to figure out how we're gonna get on stage, which was a revolving stage, by the way, but it was mainly getting Ozzy on because he is in that, he's in his throne. And then Geezer and I walk on, and Bill was already on, you know, it was making it up as we went on really."

The monstrous all-star event also featured Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Pantera, Gojira, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Anthrax, and Mastodon, among many others, including surprise appearances by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and British pop star Yungblud. Tyler has had his own recent setbacks, forcing his band to cancel its farewell tour in 2023. However, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, who served as musical director for the event, tells Eddie Trunk that his performance was incredible.

"From the beginning when I talked with Steven, it was, you know, he was not that, he wasn't gonna do that. We were gonna have Steven Tyler come out and be the most Steven Tyler that Steven Tyler could be. And I think that he did that times ten. It was really, really pretty incredible," Morello says. "Well, we had a couple of surprises, you know, he was not announced, right. And so sort of the double whammy of Ronnie like a Rolling Stone on stage. And everybody's like, 'Oh, that's fantastic.' And then boom, Steven Tyler on top of it, you know. I wanted the whole day to just feel like you just never, that's why we didn't release anything, you know, ahead of time, like the order or anything, wanted everybody to be at the edge of their seat. Like, you just don't know what's gonna happen next or who's gonna play what. And it was thrilling for me just to, I mean, I'm a super fan of these artists on stage too, and so it was just really awesome to be able to watch it and sometimes to be able to be a part of it."

Morello also confirms on Instagram that Back to the Beginning raised over $190 million for charity. Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice will split the funds from the live event and stream equally.

SiriusXM's Trunk Nation, hosted by Eddie Trunk, airs daily at 3 pm ET on SiriusXM’s Faction Talk.