On July 5, Ozzy Osbourne put on a farewell concert, performing as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath for the last time in the band's hometown of Birmingham, UK. Billed as the "Back To The Beginning" show, it was a massive ordeal: an all-day festival featuring most of the biggest names in metal and hard rock from across the past half-century, livestreamed to a pay-per-view audience around the world. It was also a charity event, and in that capacity, it made history.
A week ago, Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, who served as musical director, posted that the show had raised $190 million in charitable donations, a massive jump from the $140 million he mentioned in an earlier Instagram story. The money will be distributed between three organizations: Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Acorn Children's Hospice, and Cure Parkinson's. Each charity was able to raise tens of thousands more by raffling off tickets to the show. According to Billboard, that pushed the total beyond $200 million, which makes Back To The Beginning the highest-grossing charity concert of all time, far surpassing the $100 million raised by this year's FireAid shows in LA.
