Wolfgang Van Halen recently addressed his last-minute withdrawal from Ozzy Osbourne’s “Back to the Beginning” farewell event. He clarified the circumstances behind his absence in a statement shared on Louder Sound.
His explanation came after guitarist Nuno Bettencourt suggested in a recent interview that Van Halen had deliberately dropped out due to the difficulty of performing classic Black Sabbath solos. Van Halen provided a different account of what actually happened.
“With Back To The Beginning, things kept changing,” Wolfgang explained. “We had the flights and the hotel booked and paid for – with our own money, actually. At one point, I was supposed to play guitar on Sweet Leaf, then it was Changes. What happened was, I had this Creed tour, and they moved the rehearsal schedule back for Back To The Beginning, and we couldn’t make it at that point. It was a bummer!”
Despite missing the farewell show, Van Halen noted that he had the opportunity to connect with Ozzy at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He performed Ozzy songs there as part of a supergroup alongside Maynard James Keenan, Billy Idol, Zakk Wylde, and Robert Trujillo.
“After the performance, I got to shoot the shit with him for about 10, 15 minutes,” he said. “He gave me a hug and I asked, ‘Was that alright?’ He said it was, ‘Bloody brilliant.’ I asked him a couple questions about stories my dad had told me from when they toured together. I can’t give specifics, but just to know that Dad wasn’t making stuff up was a fun thing.”
Nuno Bettencourt talked about Wolfgang’s absence in an interview with Steve and Rik’s POTcast last week and said, “I got a call [saying] Wolfgang Van Halen just dropped out [of the Black Sabbath’s ‘Back to the Beginning event]. I said ‘yeah, he’s dropping out because he’s smart! Nobody wants to play those f*cking Randy Rhoads or Jake E. Lee solos!’ Nobody wants to f*cking do it because if you go down in flames on that stage with Ozzy there and all your peers watching, your career is over!”
Wolfgang’s absence from the event was particularly significant given the historic nature of the concert. Black Sabbath’s “Back to the Beginning” concert took place on July 5, 2025, at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, according to Louder Sound. This marked the band’s final performance after decades of iconic contributions to heavy metal music.
Ozzy Osbourne’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, announced the concert on February 5, 2025. The event served as a charity benefit for the Acorns Children’s Hospice and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Per Consequence, the concert brought together all four original members of Black Sabbath—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—for the first time in 20 years. This made it a momentous reunion for fans worldwide.
Ozzy Osbourne was dealing with advanced Parkinson’s disease. He performed while seated on a throne during the historic reunion. Black Sabbath’s brief four-song set opened with “War Pigs,” which featured an intro of “Black Sabbath.” The set continued with “Iron Man” and “N.I.B.” and concluded with “Paranoid” as Ozzy told the crowd, “I fucking love you,” while fireworks and confetti filled the night sky, as documented by Wikipedia.
The concert proved to be particularly poignant in retrospect. Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22, 2025, just seventeen days after the concert, according to Consequence. “Back to the Beginning” became not only Black Sabbath’s final show but also Ozzy’s last concert appearance as both a Black Sabbath member and solo artist.
