Pantera have announced the rescheduling and cancellation of a handful of shows in order to “mourn” the recent death of Ozzy Osbourne.
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The death of the heavy metal pioneer and iconic Black Sabbath frontman was announced last Tuesday (July 22). His family said in a statement that the 76-year-old music icon was “surrounded by love” at the time of his passing.
It came shortly after he took to the stage for the huge ‘Back To The Beginning’ gig in Birmingham on July 5 – marking his final show both as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath. While a cause of death has not been revealed, Ozzy had notably been dealing with a myriad of health issues for numerous years, including being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2019.
A who’s who of hard rock music history played sets at ‘Back To The Beginning’, with Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello serving as musical director and names on the bill including Guns N’ Roses, KoRn, Tool, Slayer, Pantera, Metallica, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Anthrax, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.
This past weekend, Pantera took to social media to announce that they would be rescheduling two concerts and cancelling three others to allow members of the band and their larger team to “grieve”.
They wrote: “Ozzy wasn’t just a legend who shaped the very foundation of heavy metal and inspired Pantera from the beginning — he was family. A mentor, a brother, and a constant presence in our lives both on and off the stage. The bond we shared with him ran far deeper than music.
“In light of this profound loss, we need time and space to grieve — to be with our families, our crew, and each other as we process and honour the life of someone who meant so much to us. Out of respect, and to allow members of our team the time to mourn, we will be rescheduling the following shows.”
The July 28 show in Saratoga Springs will now take place on September 9, while the July 31 date in Holmdel will now be held on September 8. As a result, the band have cancelled three dates: July 29 in Gilford, September 8 and Birmingham and September 10 in Virginia Beach.
Pantera – both with its original line-up and current roster – have had longstanding relationships with Ozzy Osbourne, and in 1997 performed at the Black Sabbath legend’s Ozzfest festival.
Additionally, Zakk Wylde – current guitarist for Pantera – had been a longtime member of Ozzy’s solo band, having performed with him through multiple stints between 1987 up till his retirement in 2019. Wylde had also reunited with Ozzy at the Back To The Beginning show earlier this month.
Ahead of the Back To The Beginning show, Wylde recalled one of his most “wholesome” memories with Ozzy from when they used to tour together extensively – see what he had to say here.
Countless fans and figures from the music world have shared tributes to the ‘Crazy Train’ singer – including Zak Starkey, Adam Sandler, Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Yungblud, Billie Joe Armstrong, Jack White, Coldplay, Gojira and his former guitarist Jake E Lee.
Touching messages have also been shared by his Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler.
