Reports that the late musician Ozzy Osbourne’s last ever concert generated £140m for good causes have been contested by the charities that expect to receive a share of it.
Following Black Sabbath’s final Back to the Beginning farewell show in Birmingham, 100% of the proceeds were pledged to be split equally between three charities – Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Cure Parkinson’s.
Musical director Tom Morello initially reported that £140m had been raised for the charities, but this has since been disputed by the late singer’s widow Sharon Osbourne, who recently told Pollstar that the figures quoted were not accurate.
Director of fundraising for Cure Parkinson’s Andy Simons told Civil Society: “The numbers being floated around are way beyond what we or the other two charities had even considered.
“We were not expecting anywhere near that sum even right from the beginning.
“Sharon and the team were very quick to get in contact with us and say that was not the confirmed total.
“The information we have been getting from Sharon and the team is that the figure will be lower than £140m.
“We wait with baited breath to find out what the actual total will be.”
Initial funds transferred
Simons said the charity has started to receive some of the funding while ticket revenue is still to be calculated.
Once the final sum has been confirmed, money will go towards funding research to help slow, stop or reverse Parkinson’s – a disease Ozzy Osbourne was diagnosed with in February 2019.
The charity agreed with Sharon and Ozzy that any funding raised would be restricted to trials that take place in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
The final show was live-streamed on pay-per-view, priced at £24.99 each, attracting more than five million viewers.
Five million multiplied by £24.99 is a little under £125m before accounting for sales of physical tickets and merchandise from the event.
The show also featured performances from other rock bands including Metallica, Yungblud, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Slayer and Pantera.
In a joint statement, the three charities who are receiving the proceeds said: “The Back to the Beginning show was an absolutely iconic moment in history and we are so grateful to Black Sabbath, Ozzy and Sharon for choosing us to be a part of it and putting our charity's name and mission on such an incredible worldwide stage.”
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