During an appearance on The Mistress Carrie Podcast, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge once again spoke about the fact that he will appear at the upcoming “Back To The Beginning” charity show on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The concert will mark the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH’s last-ever performance and Ozzy Osbourne’s final appearance as a solo artist. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “First and foremost, it’s a huge honor since they have meant as much to me as most others, and from a very early age as well. And both Ozzy as a solo artist — that was generally predominantly his thing. When I grew up in the ’80s, he was like the big star of the band. He was part of the mainframe of — I don’t know — your glitterati of heavy metal, sort of top 40, top 10, if you will, with big hits, like ‘Shot In The Dark’ and ‘Bark At The Moon’… So, of course, he was more like a face and more like a radio artist in my childhood, where BLACK SABBATH, of course, was a little bit of a… It was hard to really track them in the ’80s, especially after the [Ronnie James] Dio years, because when Tony [Iommi] was going through all these different lineups, so you sort of paid attention, like, ‘Oh, that’s a new BLACK SABBATH record…’ And later, when I was, like, 10 years old and when I really started buying records, I grew to love a lot of the ’80s [SABBATH] stuff as well — I mean, even ’90s stuff. I remember when ‘Dehumanizer’ came out and Dio was back, it was just, like, ‘What?’ A really cool record. It felt like they were a band to be counted on again.”I’m digressing here a little,” he continued. “But growing up with Ozzy and old BLACK SABBATH, it was hugely influential for me as a kid and onwards and just catapulting me into wanting to become a musician and write songs.”Just to stay on the subject of BLACK SABBATH, I must say that especially their more proggy records… When I’m talking about my BLACK SABBATH influence it, especially on GHOST and as a songwriter, it’s much more their mournful, big ballady or their big songs of ‘Vol 4’, ‘Sabotage’ and ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’, that sort of stuff, when they were really brave. And Geezer’s [Butler] lyrics were so deep and naked and not at all dark and gloomy. Obviously, everybody’s giving credit to them, but sometimes I think that they neglect… The whole metal genre, all the big heavy bands, it’s always been, like, ‘Yeah, BLACK SABBATH. When I think about them, I think about keyboards and I think about big mournful ballads. Those were the deep things.”I love’Symptom Of The Universe’. I love’Children Of The Grave’ too, but they were so much more than that, so much more than that,” Forge explained. “And hugely influential for me. So, if I’m just gonna say all the positive things, that’s a big honor. But, of course, it comes with the little backhand of the finality of the show and what that means is heartbreaking in a way.”Earlier in the month, Forge told Oran O’Beirne of Ireland’s Overdrive about the fact that he will appear without the rest of GHOST at “Back To The Beginning”: “The only thing I can really tell you, from what I gather, was that bands participating on stage playing, like full bands, are generally bands that are on tour at the time, whereas a lot of the artists that [are performing] singularly are ones that may not be sort of accessible in full group. We [in GHOST] were one of those, because we are about to start our U.S. tour, like, two days after that or something like that, so it was impossible for our entire entourage to multitask like that. We couldn’t do it. Especially economically, it was, like, no fucking way. It’s not gonna work. So, my job here, my mission, the gift that I’ve been given, which I feel really proud to be part of and being asked to do, is to play with — I don’t know — some of the people playing there. Which I know a few others are doing too. I guess we’re being put together in makeshift groups to play songs, which is phenomenal.”A few days earlier, Forge spoke to HardDrive XL’s Lou Brutus about the influence BLACK SABBATH and Osbourne had on his development as a musical artist. He said: ”For me, obviously, one band that has meant — one band, BLACK SABBATH; one artist, Ozzy. Of course, I grew up in the ’80s, so Ozzy was more prevalent, I guess, in presence because he was sort of — in media, he was just this over-the-top character whereas a lot of the stuff that that BLACK SABBATH was doing in the ’80s I grew to love a lot later — with the exception of the [Ronnie James] Dio records, of course. But it took me some time to sort of like some of the ’80s records with BLACK SABBATH, whereas now I’m a very, very wholistic in my worship. But Ozzy, obviously, as now obviously a singer, had a phenomenal impact on me. And, of course, everything that he was doing that was dark and haunting, and I guess I’m looking specifically at ‘Bark At The Moon’ and ‘Diary Of A Madman’, influenced me a lot.”Forge will appear at “Back To The Beginning” as Papa V Perpetua, the new character fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle.”Back To The Beginning” sold out in less than 10 minutes last month. The concert will mark the first time that the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH — Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — have played together in 20 years.Also set to appear at the event are METALLICA, GUNS N’ ROSES, TOOL, SLAYER, PANTERA, GOJIRA, ALICE IN CHAINS, HALESTORM, LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX and MASTODON.In addition, there will be a performance by a “supergroup of musicians” including Duff McKagan and Slash (GUNS ‘N’ ROSES),Billy Corgan (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS),Fred Durst (LIMP BIZKIT),K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST),Jake E. Lee (OZZY OSBOURNE),Wolfgang Van Halen (VAN HALEN, MAMMOTH WVH),Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),Andrew Watt, Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),David Ellefson (MEGADETH),Vernon Reid (LIVING COLOUR),Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE),David Draiman (DISTURBED),Frank Bello (ANTHRAX),Jonathan Davis (KORN),Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM),Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT),Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (ANTHRAX),Sleep Token II (SLEEP TOKEN) and Papa V Perpetua (GHOST).Ozzy — who hasn’t played a full show since late 2018 — announced his last-ever performance on February 5.Proceeds from the “Back To The Beginning” show will support Cure Parkinson’s, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH last performed in 2005. Since then, SABBATH has played in partial reunions but never in its original lineup.The legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman was diagnosed in 2003 with Parkin 2 — a very rare genetic form of Parkinson’s. During a TV appearance in January 2020, the singer disclosed that he was ‘stricken” with the disease which occurs when the nerve cells of the body degenerate and levels of dopamine are reduced. Dopamine is an essential chemical that is produced by these nerve cells which send signals to different parts of the brain to control movements of the body.Ozzy’s health issues, including suffering a nasty fall and dislodging metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003, as well as catching COVID-19 three years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.While Osbourne’s health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last three years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.[embedded content]
