IT MAY HAVE BEEN the biggest worldwide live rock music event since Live Aid in 1985. And the stars were a bunch of old geezers.
Well, one Geezer … Butler, the bassist of Black Sabbath. The other three guys were no spring chickens.
While maybe not as ginormous as Live Aid, the July 5 “Back to the Beginning” concert in Birmingham, England — celebrating more than 55 years of the heavy metal pioneers’ career — was certainly the biggest celebration of longevity in music history.
The 45,000 available tickets for Black Sabbath’s final show sold out in 16 minutes. The bill included Sabbath singer’s Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band, Guns ’N Roses (core members in their 60s), Metallica (all in their 60s), Tool (in their 60s), Slayer (60s), Anthrax (60s), Pantera (60s or pushing 60s), Sammy Hagar (77), Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine (61), Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins (practically a child in this crowd at 58), Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (77), former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing (73), Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers (63), Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt (58), and on and on.
Speaking of old musicians, even Ronnie Wood stopped by to join a rollicking all-star version of “Train Kept a Rollin.’” Wood is the baby among his 80-something bandmates in the Rolling Stones, at 78.
All these supposedly old people put busy (yes, busy) careers on hold to travel to England to look and play like they did in their prime — so well, in fact, organizers said the one-day event raised $190 million for charity, nearly as much as Live Aid made in today’s money ($250 million).
A new generation ready to rock
But, unlike Live Aid, very little was said about money at Back to the Beginning. The day was nothing if not a celebration of longevity.
And it wasn’t just for the older fans (almost 58-year-old me discovered Sabbath at 13 years old, in a time when they already seemed old). Things have changed in a relative hurry, thanks to more people growing up with rock and roll as a life requirement, not some noisy witchcraft delivered by Satan to capture children’s souls.
Simply put, we no longer need to ditch the sounds of our youth as we age, and the fact that so many bands in their latter years are still making a handsome living beyond Social Security age proves it.
All these decades later, Back to the Beginning sold out in minutes. The daylong tribute to the band that invented heavy metal with its self-titled debut in 1970 was viewed by an estimated 5 million people of all ages. Much of the crowd looked like it was in its 20s (and younger).
That’s the beauty of rock and roll in 2025. Unlike the old days, it’s no longer just for kids (an understatement). There are entire bars and clubs out there thriving on the idea of older folks no longer having dinner at 4 p.m. and in bed by 7. Having a mindset of getting out playing, listening, dancing, and enjoying live music at any age will literally keep people alive, if all the studies about movement are true.
Black Sabbath, who range in age from 75 to 77 despite years of drug and alcohol abuse, cancer, and long COVID, played a short but strong set and called it a day. Osbourne, 76, who has Parkinson’s disease and performed sitting on a demonic-looking throne, was nevertheless animated and sang surprisingly well. Sabbath’s 77-year-old drummer Bill Ward, who has had a myriad of health problems, nevertheless ripped his shirt off during the set and played bare-chested because, well, that’s what he’s always done.
Geezers still got it
Black Sabbath has never taken great care of itself and still, for one day, stood up and got it done. Just think of all of us living healthy lives who haven’t spent decades of our lives jammed into tour buses, eating fast food, and nearly blowing our ears off every night with music as loud as having a 747 land on your face.
But even more telling were the “young musicians” who showed up to pay tribute. They looked great and sounded great at ages that, only a few decades ago, would’ve got them laughed at if they tried playing anywhere but the side stage of a Midwestern county fair.
I remember being fascinated while seeing the Stones in 1989 that bassist Bill Wyman was 53 years old. I honestly wondered how he got through a two-hour show. Our perceptions have come so far in the few decades since, a testament to a generation or two of aging people who decided not to be defined by a number and kept living life to the fullest. And judging by all the young faces in the crowd loving that Birmingham concert — they saw their older heroes as music legends still going strong.
Long live rock and roll … and all the fans still carrying the torch well into older age.
What does a longer lifespan mean to you? Talented local columnists tag-team every Friday to tackle the challenges that inform your choices — whether you’re pushing 17 or 70. Recent Stanford Center on Longevity Visiting Scholar Susan Nash looks at life experiences through an acerbic personal lens, while other longtime writers take the macro view to examine how society will change as the aging population grows ever larger. Check in every Friday to expand your vision of living the long game and send us your feedback, column suggestions and ideas for future coverage to newsroom@baycitynews.com.