Ozzy Osbourne surprised everyone by making a surprise visit to Birmingham. He performed at the Monday closing ceremony of 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Osbourne performed the timeless hit “Black Sabbath” with his band Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi, Adam Wakeman, and Tommy Clufetos drums. “Paranoid” in front of a capacity crowd of 30,000 at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.
Osbourne, now 73, performed for the first times since November 2020 when he appeared on stage in Germany. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019 and in June this year he underwent major surgery.
Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s performance, which was teased by commentators through the evening, capped a musical extravaganza that featured several local acts including Apache Indian, Beverley Knight, Dexys, Goldie, Jacob Banks, Jaykae, Jorja Smith, Laura Mvula, Ash, Mahalia, Musical Youth, Neelam Gill, Panjabi MC, Raza Hussain, Talulah-Eve, The Selecter and UB40.
Also, the finale featured a scene from a theater production. “Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby,” featuring a newly-commissioned track from Laura Mvula, inspired by Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand,” which is used as the TV show’s theme song. Written and adapted for the stage by creator and Birmingham local Steven Knight, and choreographed and directed by Rambert’s artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, the theater production will receive its world premiere at Birmingham Hippodrome on Sept. 27 as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.
The next Commonwealth Games will be held in Victoria, Australia.
Birmingham is among the cities that are in contention for hosting the Eurovision 2023 finals.