Last year, towering figure David Byrne signed to Matador and released Who Is The Sky?, his first album in seven years. Byrne recorded the LP with Harry Styles collaborator Kid Harpoon, and it included collaborations with people like Hayley Williams and St. Vincent. Since that record came out, Byrne has been awfully busy, touring with a mesmerizing, elaborate new live show. He covered Olivia Rodrigo. He wrote a new song of nothing but Elon Musk quotes. Today, he releases a Who Is The Sky? deluxe edition that adds four tracks.
Trafalgar Releasing announced today the global cinematic release of Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning, produced by Mercury Studios, the world’s leading music-focused content studio. The film definitively captures the triumphant final live performance from Ozzy Osbourne and the original Black Sabbath lineup: Ozzy (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums).
The film will run as an event release beginning October 28, 2026, in cinemas worldwide. Tickets go on sale at 7:00 AM, PT / 10:00 AM, ET / 3:00 PM, BST / 4:00 PM, CEST on Thursday, September 24, at backtothebeginning.com. Visit the official event website now to sign up for the latest information and event updates.
The film documents a landmark moment in music history: Ozzy Osbourne’s historic final farewell performance for his fans in his Birmingham hometown – captured just 17 days before his untimely passing. The sold-out Back To The Beginning show at Birmingham’s Villa Park stadium on July 5 last year not only included a solo set from Ozzy, but a reunion of Black Sabbath’s original members performing together for the first time in more than 20 years.
Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning celebrates two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy®-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy and Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Black Sabbath’s enduring legacy, featuring the iconic group’s triumphant final show, personal reflections from the superstar musicians they inspired, and a behind-the-scenes look at the day itself.
“Back to the Beginning came about because I asked Ozzy what would really make him happy,” says Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager who oversaw the legendary event. “And he said the only thing that would make him happy was if he could perform again and say goodbye to his fans. That’s all he wanted to do. He wanted to say goodbye and thank you.”
The event—which sold out in minutes—brought together generations of fans alongside some of the most influential names in rock to celebrate Black Sabbath’s legacy. The show was hosted by Jason Momoa with Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine guitarist) serving as Musical Director for Back to the Beginning. The night included sets from Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Gojira, Guns N Roses, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Metallica, Pantera, Rival Sons, Slayer, and Tool, along with All-Star segments with special guests Adam Wakeman, Andrew Watt, Billy Corgan, Chad Smith, David Draiman, David Ellefson, Jake E. Lee, KK Downing, Mike Bordin, Nuno Bettencourt, Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Ronnie Wood, Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Sleep Token II, Steven Tyler, Travis Barker, Vernon Reid, Whitfield Crane, and Yungblud.
Ozzy’s Black Sabbath band members noted of the event: “It was a closure for the band, and it was a good way to go out, I think.” — Tony Iommi,Black Sabbath.
“To me it was like pure love. It was just a wave of love. It’s the only way I can describe it really. I mean I could feel it as if it was tangible.” — Geezer Butler,Black Sabbath.
“Felt completely at home in a place where I belong. It almost felt like I was in a dream.“ — Bill Ward,Black Sabbath.
“There’s never been anything like that that’s happened in the history of rock and roll,” says Tom Morello,Rage Against the Machine guitarist and Musical Director of Back to the Beginning. “There’s never been a precedent for a show like this…[Black Sabbath] gets to play their final show basically in the Ground Zero of where they created heavy metal.”
The film has been directed for screen by Ben Wainwright-Pearce (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, George Michael: The Faith Tour), with the live concert directed by Tim van Someren, and produced by Jim Parsons, Jamie Silk, and Dan Seliger. It has been crafted specifically for cinematic presentation, designed to immerse audiences in both the scale of the stadium production and the intimacy of the final performance.
Presented in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound, the film has been engineered to deliver a fully immersive audio-visual experience, bringing audiences into the heart of the performance with unprecedented clarity and power.
Mercury Studios co-leads, Ken Danquah and Andrea Dunn, said in a joint statement: “Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most influential figures in music history, and his final performance with Black Sabbath deserves to be seen on the biggest possible stage. Last year, we brought this legendary concert to fans across the globe, offering millions the chance to be there through an unprecedented livestream. This film is the next chapter, giving fans a new way to experience that night on the big screen. Back To The Beginning captures the scale of a stadium performance and the intimacy of a farewell, crafted specifically for the cinema screen.”
“Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert was a landmark cultural moment”, says Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing. “Bringing it to cinemas worldwide is an opportunity to further cement Ozzy’s legacy and impact. We are really looking forward to giving fans around the world a chance to experience this final celebration of Ozzy and Black Sabbath together on the big screen.”
In 2022, a woman named Julia Misley (formerly Julia Holcomb) sued Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, accusing him of sexually assaulting her in the ’70s, when she was a minor. Misley filed her lawsuit in the final days of the Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that temporarily voided the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse. She met Tyler when she was 16 and he was 25, and he became her legal guardian during their three-year relationship, which Tyler wrote about in his own 2011 memoir. The trial was set to start later this month, but now two different judges have recused themselves from the case.
A concert film of Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath‘s legendary ‘Back To The Beginning’ show will hit cinemas worldwide this October.
Produced by Mercury Studios, the world’s leading music-focused content studio, the concert film will be shown in cinemas globally beginning on October 28.
Tickets will go on sale at 3pm BST next Thursday (September 24) at backtothebeginning.com.
Taking place just 17 days before his tragic passing, the ‘Back To The Beginning’ film documents Ozzy Osbourne’s historic final farewell performance for his fans in his Birmingham hometown.
To mark the special occasion, Black Sabbath’s original lineup of Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward performed together for the first time in 20 years, joined by a whole host of rock and metal icons at Villa Park.
Directed for screen by Ben Wainwright-Pearce (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, George Michael: The Faith Tour), the concert film has been crafted specifically for cinematic presentation, presented in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound.
Speaking on the release, Mercury Studios co-leads, Ken Danquah and Andrea Dunn have shared:
“Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most influential figures in music history, and his final performance with Black Sabbath deserves to be seen on the biggest possible stage. Last year, we brought this legendary concert to fans across the globe, offering millions the chance to be there through an unprecedented livestream. This film is the next chapter, giving fans a new way to experience that night on the big screen.Back To The Beginning captures the scale of a stadium performance and the intimacy of a farewell, crafted specifically for the cinema screen.”
All profits from the original show were shared equally between the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
Since that day, Black Sabbath’s members have all spoken about what ‘Back To The Beginning’ meant to them.
“It was a closure for the band and it was a good way to go out, I think.” – Tony Iommi.
“To me it was like pure love. It was just a wave of love. It’s the only way I can describe it really. I mean I could feel it as if it is like tangible.” – Geezer Butler.
“Felt completely at home in a place where I belong. It almost felt like I was in a dream.“ – Bill Ward.
On the inspiration of Ozzy and his involvement in the show, Yungblud shared:
“Back then I was just a kid with his fucking tongue out, and looking at Ozzy felt like me personified. Seeing him felt like looking at myself. And I think that’s why people see a lot of similarities between us. We’ve got massive hearts, we’re a little bit crazy, and we’ve both got massive mouths as well. I’ve always carried him in my pocket, because with all of that, he made it. Not only did they make it in rock music, but they also made it as human beings who were always going to be themselves. I can’t believe that they asked me to sing a song like ‘Changes’ either. They could have got me out to try and get the crowd rocking. They know I know how to do that. But putting me on the microphone with a piano in front of 70,000 people and front of Ozzy is something else entirely. A way to say thank you. I feel like it is the most relevant Sabbath song to my life at the minute, especially alongside the art and the album that I’ve just put out. And to be able to look at that motherfucker and say, ‘Thank you for every turning point in my life’, the only way I could do that is by going out and singing that song for him.”
Leading the way for their upcoming studio album Monumental, out on October 23, 2026, via Napalm Records, Ukrainian modern metal architects IGNEA today unveil their third single, entitled “Prefab.” The track arrives as a highly industrial metal anthem feat. aggrotech and electro-industrial icon Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist, whose voice perfectly complements the offering of IGNEA’s vocalist Helle Bohdanova as well as the song’s atmosphere and theme, thus turning it into a true rave soundtrack for metalheads.
IGNEA’s new record Monumental is set around the concept of nostalgia, with “Prefab”getting in line with this idea, as it’s looking at two sides of the album’s overall theme—architecture and collective memory.
Helle Bohdanova about “Prefab”: “‘Prefab’ reflects on the darker side of nostalgia—prefabricated socialist buildings, originally meant to give everyone a roof over their heads. But like many socialist ideals, the concept was flawed at its core: uniform, industrial, stripping people of individuality and personal choice, making them feel like ants inside their own homes. Remnants of this architecture still stand across Europe—from Ukraine and Poland, from Germany to France—and while people may recall personal memories of them, that nostalgia is often bittersweet at best, rooted in poverty and authoritarian regime.
As Ukrainians from a post-Soviet country, we grew up surrounded by the physical remains of a system that promised a bright future and delivered the opposite. What’s stranger is that even knowing how flawed it was, many people still feel a pull toward certain parts of Soviet life. And it’s not just us—plenty of Westerners romanticize Soviet aesthetics too, nostalgic for a past they never lived.
In the ‘Prefab’ video, we wanted to convey the feeling of a confined, uniform space, a cramped room representing a typical Soviet apartment, where only the tenants ever change.
When we shaped the demo around ‘Prefab’, we were basically hearing Andy’s vocals in the back of our minds, and we’re so glad he agreed to lend his voice. Having Combichrist as part of the industrial metal banger on our upcoming album—what could be more iconic?
Tune into this ‘cementery for serial dreams’ and try not to headbang!”
Watch the Official Music Video for “Prefab” (feat. Combichrist) NOW!
Monumental is IGNEA’s second full-length album that was written during the full-scale war in Ukraine. The recording process mostly took place in the winter of 2025-2026, during icy temperatures and long power outages in Kyiv.
Helle Bohdanova says about Monumental: “Back in the 17th century, nostalgia was considered a deadly disease—and in many ways, it still is. It’s a universal feeling experienced by every human being, pulling us toward a past that felt gentler than it truly was, especially during the bitter moments of the present. Much of this album was inspired by modernist architecture—concrete giants built to signal progress and a brighter future, now slowly decaying. They’ve become a sort of memory box: monuments to unrealized dreams, where the future that was once imagined never arrived, yet continues to echo through the ruins and bright mosaics.”
On Monumental, IGNEA takes the listener on nostalgic rides, with all their ups and downs, expressed in music and lyrics, carrying a sense of gentle sadness and reflection, as nostalgia can bring back beautiful memories, darkened by the awareness that these moments will never happen again.
Following Dreams of Lands Unseen (2023), the band navigates through unique facets of the past across nine tracks—from the grandeur and ambition of Cold War space dreams to the melancholy of urban decay and forgotten modernist structures, all the way to the emotional weight of personal and collective memory. All lyrics on Monumentalwere written by vocalist Helle Bohdanova. The music was composed by keyboardist Yevhenii Zhytniuk, with additional contributions from Helle Bohdanova. Mixing and mastering were handled by Grammy Award-nominated producer Jacob Hansen, known for his work with bands such as DELAIN, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, and Epica.
Monumental tracklisting:
Darkness
Dreams of Lands Unseen
Presence of the Past
Prefab (feat. Combichrist)
What Buildings Dream of
I am in Hell
Between No Longer and Not Yet
Harmony Manufactured (feat. Hiraes)
Nadir
Monumental will be available in the following formats:
1-LP Splatter Vinyl, incl. LP-Sized Booklet – strictly limited (Napalm Records EU Shop only)
Bundle 1-CD Jewelcase + T-Shirt (Napalm Records EU Shop only)
1-LP Solid Silver Vinyl
1-CD Jewelcase
Digital Album
Musically, Monumental blends technical metal riffs, industrial textures, atmospheric interludes, grandiose choruses, and melodic passages to mirror “nostalgic rides,” where darkness, reflection, and awe collide. Visually and conceptually, IGNEA drew inspiration from retrofuturism, modernist and monumental architecture, and industrial design, creating a world where sound, imagery, and memory converge. The album stands as an ode to the past, a meditation on lost and unrealized futures, and a celebration of the enduring beauty hidden within forgotten places.
IGNEA Live 2026
Supporting EVERGREY’s Architects Of A New Weave European Tour 2026 w/ Stellar Circuits 11.11.26 SE – Lund / Mejeriet 12.11.26 SE – Stockholm / Kollektivet Livet 13.11.26 SE – Linköping / Paletset 14.11.26 SE – Gothenburg / Filmstudion 2 15.11.26 NO – Oslo / Salt 17.11.26 DE – Hamburg / Logo 18.11.26 DE – Berlin / Hole44 19.11.26 DE – Munich / Feierwerk 20.11.26 AT – Vienna / Weberknecht 21.11.26 IT – Milan / Slaughter Club 22.11.26 CH – Aarau / KiFF 23.11.26 BE – Antwerp / Zappa 25.11.26 UK – Southampton / The Brook 26.11.26 UK – Birmingham / Asylum 27.11.26 UK – London / The Underworld 28.11.26 UK – Leeds / The Key Club 29.11.26 IE – Dublin / Opium 30.11.26 UK – Belfast / Limelight 2 01.12.26 UK – Glasgow / G2 02.12.26 UK – Newcastle / Anarchy Brew 03.12.26 UK – Manchester / Rebellion 04.12.26 UK – Bristol / Strange Brew 05.12.26 UK – Nottingham / Saltbox 07.12.26 FR – Paris / Petit Bain 08.12.26 DE – Trier / Mergener Hof 09.12.26 DE – Karlsruhe / Substage 10.12.26 DE – Dortmund / Junkyard 11.12.26 NL – Rotterdam / Baroeg 12.12.26 NL – Maastricht / Muziekgieterij
Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning will get a global cinema release on October 28, for a limited time. Shot at Villa Park in Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham on July 5, 2025 and directed by Ben Wainwright-Pearce, who was also responsible for Taylor Swift’ The Eras Tour concert movie, the film’s producers say it “definitively captures the triumphant final live performance from Ozzy Osbourne and the original Black Sabbath lineup.”
The Back To The Beginning show featured the first performance by the original Black Sabbath line-up of Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward in 20 years. It also marked Ozzy’s last ever solo performance – the singer died just over two weeks later, on July 22.
“It was a closure for the band and it was a good way to go out, I think,” says Tony Iommi of the show, while Geezer Butler adds: “To me it was like pure love. It was just a wave of love. It’s the only way I can describe it really. I mean I could feel it as if it is like tangible.”
As well as sets from Ozzy and Sabbath, the Back To The Beginning bill also featured a Who‘s Who of rock and metal, including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Slayer, Halestorm and more. Speaking to Metal Hammer recently, Sharon Osbourne said that footage of the other bands’ sets also appears in the film.
“Back To The Beginning came about because I asked Ozzy what would really make him happy,” says Sharon. “And he said the only thing that would make him happy was if he could perform again and say goodbye to his fans. That’s all he wanted to do. He wanted to say goodbye and thank you.”
“There’s never been anything like that that’s happened in the history of rock and roll,” adds Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who was musical director of the Back To The Beginning show and helped pull the bill together. “There’s never been a precedent for a show like this… [Black Sabbath] gets to play their final show basically in the Ground Zero of where they created heavy metal.”
Tickets for Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning go on sale Thursday September 24 at 3pm BST/7am PT/10am ET / 4pm CEST, and are available from backtothebeginning.com.
Ozzy Osbourne at Back To The Beginning, July 5, 2025 (Image credit: Press)
Tool’s Maynard James Keenan (Image credit: Press)
Zakk Wylde performimg onstage with Pantera (Image credit: Press)
Slayer’s Kerry King (Image credit: Press)
Jason Momoa (Image credit: Press)
Lzzy Hale (Image credit: Press)
Opera singer Marina Viotti with Gojira (Image credit: Press)
