The Black Sabbath Final Reunion Livestream Cut A Key Moment From Their Farewell

Fans watching Black Sabbath’s final Back To The Beginning show online missed a heartfelt ending thanks to an awkward livestream edit.

Black Sabbath fans tuning into the Back to the Beginning livestream might’ve felt like the legendary band’s final act ended on an oddly cold note. However, according to those who were actually there, the real ending was far more emotional than what made it to screens.

The livestream, broadcast to over five million viewers worldwide, captured the original Black Sabbath lineup wrapping up their four-song reunion set with ‘Paranoid’ before Iommi, Butler and Ward walked off the stage, leaving Ozzy Osbourne in his throne. It then cut to a shot of Villa Park itself as confetti and fireworks seemingly heralded the end to the fanfare.

What it didn’t show, however, was the more intimate moment that followed: guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler walking over to Osbourne, who remained seated in his throne, to shake his hand before quietly exiting the stage.

Shortly after, Butler returned to present Osbourne with a cake featuring his own face, giving the frontman a final moment to take in the crowd’s applause alone. Fan-filmed footage has since surfaced filling in the gaps, and many are pointing to what they see as a poorly handled edit by the production team responsible for the livestream.

“For all the fans saying how ‘cold’ the end of the Black Sabbath show was… note that you probably feel like that because of a really poor edit on the ‘live’ stream,” The Rock Experience With Mike Brunn wrote on Facebook. “They were giving Ozzy that final moment to take in the crowd one last time.”

The Black Sabbath reunion closed out the massive Back to the Beginning concert at Birmingham’s Villa Park – a historic farewell that featured sets from Metallica, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Alice in Chains and more, along with a final solo performance from Osbourne himself.

While the Black Sabbath livestream may have glossed over the final moments, those in the stadium witnessed a farewell that was far from cold – one that gave the Prince of Darkness his due before the curtain fell.