July 5 marked Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's last performances, but it was also a day of firsts: on Monday (July 7), the Prince of Darkness revealed that he met Axl Rose for the first time during the extravagant Back to the Beginning event, sharing a photo of the pair shaking hands on Instagram. "My first time meeting Axl Rose, at my age you don’t get to meet many legends, seriously an utter gentleman," he captioned the photo.
The Guns N' Roses frontman also gushed over meeting Ozzy. “Wow!! What an EVENT!! Extremely overwhelming!! Really great crowd!! Was very emotional for everyone!! MET OZZY!! (Crazy we’d never met b4!!) He was really great!! Was great to meet Sabbath!!” he wrote on X. “Was hard as I imagine for anyone to watch [Ozzy’s] struggles while at the same time everyone was rooting for him n’ massively respecting the challenges he took on n’ HE DID IT!!!! Was great to meet Ozzy’s family n’ see friends n’ peeps in all bands n’ the business. A HUGE THANK YOU again to Ozzy, Sharon, Black Sabbath n’ all the fans for having us!!”
GNR was one of several bands who performed at Back to The Beginning. They covered four Black Sabbath songs during their set, and sprinkled in their own hits “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City.”
The night closed out with Ozzy performing "I Don't Know," “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama I’m Coming Home,” and “Crazy Train” with a solo backing band that consisted of guitarist Zakk Wylde, keyboardist Adam Wakeman, drummer Tommy Clufetos, and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez. Black Sabbath then took the stage and played "War Pigs," "Iron Man," "N.I.B.," and "Paranoid," marking the first time all four original band members were onstage together in 20 years.
See Ozzy and Axl's posts below.