Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne & Tony Iommi Reunite For Surprise Commonwealth Games Performance

August 9, 2022

The 2022 Commonwealth Games have wrapped up with a surprise reunion of two of heavy metal’s biggest icons. Black Sabbath co-founders Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi teamed up onstage for the first time in five years, treating fans to a rendition of one of their classics during the Games’ closing ceremony.

In a stadium performance punctuated by a monumental fireworks display, the pair lit up their hometown of Birmingham with a monster rendition of ‘Paranoid’, the title track off their game-changing 1970 LP.

Watch: Ozzy & Tony close the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

It marked the first time the pair have shared the stage together since Sabbath’s The End farewell world tour back in 2017, which wrapped up with a final show in their native Birmingham. The show was filmed for the historic concert film, Black Sabbath: The End of the End.

The Prince Of Darkness and the Riff Lord were joined at the Commonwealth Games reunion gig by two musicians from that very tour: bassist and keyboardist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos. The ceremony took place at Alexander Stadium in front of an audience of more than 30,000, with the estimated global TV audience exceeding one billion.

Earlier this week, Iommi chatted with BirminghamWorld about the pressure of performing live in front of so many eyeballs. “A billion people tuning in is a huge figure,” he said. “It’s going to be seen not just across the Commonwealth but throughout the world. We really have to do Birmingham proud.”

He continued: “I like to think that Black Sabbath helped to put Birmingham on the map musically, and it’s great now that the Games ceremony will feature so many talented people from the city. It means a hell of a lot to me. But I have to admit, there’ll be a bit of stage fright on the night. I haven’t played onstage at a big show for five years since the final Sabbath show in February 2017.”

“A billion people tuning in is a huge figure.”

What a way to bring it all to an end!

Thank you, Birmingham. Thank you, thank you, thank you!@ozzyosbourne @tonyiommi @wakemanofficial #B2022 #ClosingCeremony #CommonwealthGames pic.twitter.com/2UoSFrqoeH

— Birmingham 2022 (@birminghamcg22) August 8, 2022

The performance represented a huge milestone for Iommi in particular, who effectively retired from touring following Sabbath’s final tour to focus on his health. After today’s big reunion, Ozzy tweeted: “@TonyIommi , I was really proud to see you tonight at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in our home town of Birmingham”.

As for the Blizzard Of Ozz himself, despite battling his own share of health issues in recent times, Ozzy has continued to make music post-Sabbath and is currently gearing up to release his 13th solo record, Patient Number 9, next month.