Megadeth was one of the most glaring absences from Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s final concert. Now, in a new interview, Ozzy’s widow/manager, Sharon, has explained why the band was not part of the Back to the Beginning festival.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in October 2026, Sharon opened up about making the big tribute event happen. “Oh my God, there were so many great, great performances,” she said. “It was just overwhelming. Even down to when the drummers were up there: Travis [Barker], Chad [Smith], and Danny [Carey]. Everything was just great that day. Without Tom Morello, without [Live Nation promoter] Andy Copping, it would never have happened.
Sharon Osbourne says they had too little time to fit everyone into “Back to the Beginning”
“Tom Morello was an absolute saint, and he is incredible,” Sharon added. “His sense of music and of what’s right and what’s not right, he’s just an incredible person. He needs a sainthood. He is the saint of metal. He’s so wise and knows what he’s talking about on so many different levels.”
“Andy Copping, who has been in our lives forever too, from Live Nation, he is just an incredible music man,” the longtime music mogul added. “There’s not one band on that show that wasn’t a friend of Andy’s. Even though he works for Live Nation, a huge corporation, everybody adores Andy Copping. He’s one of the most famous promoters in the world. He’s just the best.”
Rolling Stone journalist Kory Grow noted that they all “put together a great lineup”, to which Sharon replied by noting: “We really, really wanted Megadeth. There was no time. We couldn’t fit everybody in on one day. There were so many bands that were due to play that we just couldn’t because there was not enough time.”
Megadeth was in Europe around the time of “Back to the Beginning” and reportedly wanted to join
Notably, in a 2025 interview, Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo revealed to journalist Charrie Foglio that the band was just not “invited” to the big show.
“Not everybody gets invited to every party,” he said respectfully. “But at the same time, when we were in Europe last week, David [Mustaine] said that he was reaching out to everybody and telling them that we were in the neighborhood and that we were close enough to come. And if they wanted us to, we could stay over for a few days and work it out.”
He continued, emphasizing, “If they wanted us to. I don’t know what our manager had accomplished with that, but it didn’t get accomplished, so we just came home.”
Well, it seems now we have our answer.
Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images
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