Dave Mustaine has addressed why Megadeth did not perform at Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s farewell show and denied that the band was involved in a money dispute that led to another act being removed from the bill, speaking to Louder Sound.
The Megadeth frontman clarified Megadeth’s absence from Back To The Beginning in 2025 and commented on reports that an unnamed band had been dropped from the lineup after making excessive financial demands.
“What we had heard was some scuttlebutt in one of the bands, and they never said who it was, they had asked for an exorbitant amount of money,” Mustaine said. “And I guess that was something that was in really bad form. I don’t know any more about it, but that was not us. We were over in Europe playing.”
The frontman went on to explain his desire to support Osbourne during what has been a difficult time for the musician and his family.
“Being able to play a show for her and her husband and helping with the grieving process, I’m all about that, because they were there for me,” Mustaine continued. “When Sharon got sick the first time [getting diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002], I sent her a bunch of roses and said ‘get well soon’ because of her kindness.”
He added that Osbourne and Sharon returned that support when Mustaine faced his own health crisis years later.
“I never really thought that that would go any further than that, but as soon as I got sick [battling throat cancer in 2019], her and [Ozzy] were right there,” he said. “They called me not long after the diagnosis had come out and I thought it was really commendable.”
Mustaine’s comments came as part of a broader discussion about the farewell event, which brought together many acts to celebrate the legacy of the heavy metal icon.
The Back to the Beginning show took place on July 5, 2025, at Birmingham’s Villa Park. The event marked Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell performance in his hometown and reunited the original Black Sabbath lineup—Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward—for their first performance together in more than 20 years. The all-star, one-day-only charity festival drew a sold-out crowd of 40,000 people.
Megadeth was performing elsewhere in Europe on the date of the Back to the Beginning concert. The band played the Tons of Rock festival in Oslo, Norway, on June 28, 2025, and the Icónica Sevilla Fest in Seville, Spain, on July 3, 2025, which aligned with Mustaine’s explanation for why the band could not attend Ozzy’s event.
Sharon Osbourne, who supervised the event, had explained the concept behind the farewell show. The lineup included many heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Alice in Chains, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Wolfgang Van Halen, Yungblud and others.
The mutual support between Mustaine and the Osbournes developed over years of friendship. Sharon Osbourne was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002 and underwent surgery that year, during which time Mustaine reached out with flowers and well wishes. When Mustaine was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019, the Osbournes returned the gesture by reaching out to offer support during his treatment and recovery.
