MR. BIG played the final show of its "The BIG Finale!" tour on February 25 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Earlier that same month, the band played three other shows: on February 14 at the Bloomverse Festival in Meghālaya, India, on February 16 at the Bloomverse Express in Bengaluru, India, and on February 22 at the Osaka Music Hall in Osaka, Japan. Asked in a new interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" if the band is now officially "done done", MR. BIG frontman Eric Martin said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, God. Another soundbite from Eric Martin going, 'Oh, I don't want this to happen.' Well, we're no stranger to a breakup. I mean, we did this before. In 1996, Paul [Gilbert, MR. BIG guitarist] left, and thank God Richie Kotzen came into the picture [as Paul's replacement]. And then we did a couple of albums there. And then 2000 — I don't know; when was it? — in 2002 we did another one, and that was a long breakup. That was five, six years maybe. And then we got back together. So we're no stranger to a comeback. But I don't know. I feel like this is it."

Eric continued: "Romania was [supposed to be] the last show, which was last year, and then every time we wanna quit, that old saying, they brought us back for India, two shows, and then we played Osaka, and then we ended in Tokyo Budokan — again. And we said our goodbyes. And I don't know — I feel funny when you say goodbye too many times. I mean, nothing to take away from KISS or anything. I'm glad that they… Hey, first of all, it's KISS. Come back, leave, come back. I don't care. I'll be right there, right in the front row to watch you. But for MR. BIG, I think it was time. The train has left the station."

Martin went on to say that he is still on great terms with his MR. BIG bandmates even though a decision was made to no longer tour as a group. "Yeah, it's all good," he explained. "Everybody took a deep breath. We talked about it a couple of years ago with Tim, our manager, and we said, 'Hey, man. This is it.' And I balked a million times and talked too much and [I was] going, 'No, I don't want it to end.' But it was time. It was time. I mean, with [original MR. BIG drummer] Pat Torpey's passing and then different drummers — we had Matt Starr, we had Edu Cominato from Brazil play with us, and then the last drummer, Nick D'Virgilio, did great. Everything was wonderful, but the three of us — me, Billy [Sheehan, MR. BIG bassist] and Paul — just kind of looked at each other and said, 'Hey, it's, it's a good time to go.' And also no animosity — I hope not. [Laughs] But I think this time we just all hugged it out.. Billy Sheehan, and I blame him for this, he said 'never say never' a million times. So, I think it's completely over, but in a beautiful way. No animosity. It's a beautiful thing."

In an October 2024 interview with Ruben Mosqueda of We Go To 11, Sheehan was asked if the band's "The BIG Finish" farewell tour was just the end of extensive touring for him and his bandmates, with plans to make special appearances from time to time, or if MR. BIG was going to become a studio-only project going forward. Billy responded: "The end is the end. It's finished. If some extenuating circumstances come up, we might do a show or two, maybe, but touring and recording… We kind of wanted to put a period at the end of the sentence. And as I've said many times, we wanted to run over the finish line, not crawl over it. And for us, a fully functional band is on tour playing live and doing the thing and writing recording, and then go out on after the record and do another tour, to do that, we've done that for 34 years, and it's been an amazing run. We have friends all over planet earth. It's fantastic. And it's probably our greatest asset, personally, for me, the amazing people that we've touched around the world. But we decided to really, 'Let's do it the right way,' and not to have some continual farewell thing that goes on for an eternity."

He continued: "Our last show was in Romania. Unusual. That's where the roulette ball fell into that as we spun the wheel. And we had a great time. And our last shows in Europe, we did a bunch of shows in Germany. Amazing. We have a lot of friends in Germany. We had big hits in Germany as well. And all over Europe and England. We got to play Ireland — Belfast and Dublin. And I'm an Irishman, so that was very nice. We played Liverpool, the Holy Ground. It was quite amazing. I had to put one little BEATLES melody in my solo at the end. Pretty cool. So it was a nice way to go out. I'm glad we did it. We did it with as much class as we're capable of. We did the final tour, and I'm very, very pleased about it."

In a separate interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, Martin once again admitted that he was second guessing the group's decision to stop touring after the completion of "The BIG Finish" farewell tour. Asked what "The BIG Finish" means to him, he said: "Yeah, I'm not pulling the wool over anybody's eyes. It means the touring is over. Which kind of bums me out, because I was there in the meeting a year and change ago going, 'Yep. I agree. It's time that we call it quits.'

"I didn't wanna quit for the longest time," he admitted. "I mean, this was brought up, like, five years ago. 'Should we do a farewell tour?' We've got other projects going, and it's kind of hard to keep the MR. BIG thing alive. And I was, like, 'No,' cheerleading, 'Please, no. We've gotta keep it going.' But yeah, a year and a few months ago, I was totally in agreement with everybody going, 'Yeah, this is it.' I even thought of the name 'BIG Finish'. So I put the nail in the coffin. But now I'm, like, oh, I wish I had a nice big hammer to unclog that nail. 'Cause the band's so good and so tight. The crowd's coming out. New album came out. The momentum is there. And the band just sounds so tight on stage.

Circling back to what "The BIG Finish" meant as far as the possibility of future MR. BIG live shows, Eric said: "What I mean by 'The BIG Finish' is there's no touring anymore. I would hope that we still leave the door open. I mean, I brought this up many times online. Even Nick D'Virgilio, our drummer, he goes, 'Man, we should do a residency in Indonesia or Japan or just anywhere,' like do a residency. And I go, 'Man, I just hope we can play in a few years, play four or five shows here and there, maybe play a festival with bands in our ilk.' It'd be great to keep that door open. And no response. I think also, a whole year and almost a half of touring, everybody just kind of wants to take a break. But I'm, like, 'Let's ride this wave, brother. Let's do this.' But yeah, no more touring. No more multiple dates. It's over. The big lady has sung."

In August 2024, Eric told Roppongi Rocks's Stefan Nilsson that there was no chance of him and his MR. BIG bandmates going back on their word that they would not tour ever again. "We're not the kind of band — when we say that we're gonna quit and it's over and we're not touring anymore… We may do a one-off here and there every couple of years or whatever, but we're not going to be like the MÖTLEY CRÜEs and the KISSes," he explained." And no offense to them, because the crowds keep coming to see 'em, but we're not gonna do it. We just maybe have too much pride in it."

Asked if there was a chance of MR. BIG making more studio albums in the future, Eric said: "I did an interview the other day with Billy, and… I'm not my brother's keeper. I don't know what he thinks. I know what I think, that I'd like to do albums. If we're not gonna tour anymore for different reasons — I mean, I just don't wanna tour lengthy…. This has been a year. I just can't do it. I'm too old to… Everybody goes, 'Oh, what about THE ROLLING STONES?' Yeah. What about THE ROLLING STONES? Flying in, playing one show and two weeks later playing another show. Yeah, this is back-to-back touring. Hardly any hotels. I mean, the bus will suffice, but it's like a big camping trip for older men. So, I would like to do other albums. But the interview went like this. The guy goes, 'You gonna do another album?' And I'm, like, 'I'd like to.' And Billy goes, 'No, that's it.' I'm, like, 'All right.' But he's the guy that always says, 'Never say never.'"

MR. BIG played the last show of its "The BIG Finish" farewell tour on August 23, 2024 at the Way Too Far Rock Festival in Bistrița, Romania. After the concert, Sheehan took to his social media to share a picture from the gig and he included the following message: "Romania!!! Crowd was a little bit light, but they made up for it in enthusiasm! The last MR. BIG show (not MY last show, goddammit!!).

"What a great run we've had since 1988. We made Great memories and millions (literally) of friends all around the world. My unlimited love and respect to all who listened, watched, purchased records, tickets and T -shirts. — without you we would have been nothing. Fact. Moving on now to other adventures, but never forgetting this amazing experience."

Gilbert added: "What an adventure! MR. BIG wraps up over a year of touring! Many thanks to ALL! I'll get home just in time for my son's 10th birthday. I hope he remembers who I am!"

D'Virgilio, who joined MR. BIG in 2023 as the replacement for the late Pat Torpey, commented: "It has been an amazing run with @billysheehanonbass @paulgilbert_official and @iamericmartin I've been able to rock n roll all over the world with the guys and I will be forever thankful. Big Love for MR. BIG!"

MR. BIG's tenth studio album, "Ten", was released on July 12, 2024 via Frontiers Music Srl. The LP featured 11 new original tracks written by Martin and Gilbert, along with André Pessis and Tony Fanucchi. "Ten" was produced by Jay Ruston and MR. BIG.

D'Virgilio missed most of the final European leg of MR. BIG's "The BIG Finish" tour due to his commitments with his band BIG BIG TRAIN. He was temporarily replaced on the trek by Edu Cominato, an experienced drummer from São Paulo, Brazil who has previously played with Sheehan and Martin, Jeff Scott Soto and Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE),among others.

When MR. BIG announced "The BIG Finish" tour in 2023, the bandmembers said that it was "time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy" after drummer Pat Torpey lost his battle with Parkinson's disease in 2018. The first leg kicked off in Japan and Southeast Asia in July and August 2023, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows including Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

MR. BIG's last-ever live album release was "The BIG Finish Live", which came out on September 6, 2024 via the Evolution Music Group.

"The BIG Finish Live" was a brand-new live album and concert film of MR. BIG's "The BIG Finish" farewell tour, where the band played their million-selling "Lean Into It" album in its entirety, plus additional MR. BIG classics.

Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and acclaimed metal vocalist Jeff Scott Soto have once again joined forces and are set to release their second album, "Unbreakable", on August 15 via Rat Pak Records. The duo ELLEFSON-SOTO is joined by Italian guitarist Andy Martongelli and Paolo Caridi on drums and features 11 studio tracks with guest appearances from Tim "Ripper" Owens (KK'S PRIEST, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) and BURNING WITCHES frontwoman Laura Guldemond.

During a recent appearance on Rock Camp: The Podcast, Ellefson stated about ELLEFSON-SOTO:  "We started writing [the material for the first album], I think, [a few] years ago up in Wembley. The guitar player of the group, Andy Martongelli, is out of Italy. So we started composing. We had a record, and he said, he goes, 'Dude, just call Jeff Scott Soto to sing.' And this was back in 2021 during COVID. So I hit Jeff. We sent some stuff back and forth. It sounded great. We just kept sending stuff. And finally [Jeff] just said, 'Rather than me just sort of being the hired singer here, I'd really like to just be a part of this.' It was music to our ears. I'd rather do that too. I could pay you to sing on every song, but I think we've got something pretty cool here."

Ellefson continued: "So the first record, of course, is always about kind of finding each other, so really it's me and Jeff and Andy Martongelli — and our drummer Paolo as well; he's also from Italy. So half the band's Italian, half the band's American, I guess. As that first record came out, it really had a great response to it, and so Andy and I started writing the second one. And we got it finished up back… I wanted to get everything done before Jeff went on tour with TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA back in November [of 2024]. So that was kind of our goal and our deadline, which we did. We mixed the record in the New Year and got it all teed up and ready to go and shot the videos and everything."

Regarding how "Unbreakable" compares to 2022's "Vacation In The Underworld", David said: "The second record, you feel a little more comfortable with each other, 'cause you're just musically more comfortable, personally you're more comfortable. And we didn't know if there's ever gonna be a second record."

Ellefson went on to say that he loves the "Unbreakable" album title. "I think it speaks to a lot of my life for sure, and I think it speaks to all of us," he added. "I hope our audience relates to it, that together we're stronger. And no matter what kind of stuff we go through, we all go through stuff. It's called life. It's called being human. And I think as long as you just kind of keep moving forward…

"I remember watching a yoga DVD one time and the instructor said, he goes, 'As humans, we're wired to think forward, and forward is where hope is.' That's why when you think it's over, that's when your hope's gone and dreams die and it's over," David explained. "So I think as humans, at least in my life, it's, like, just always say yes, always keep moving forward because that keeps the hope alive. It keeps the fire burning and the target is always ahead of you, not behind you and lamenting and wishing that it would've been different. And it's always about moving forward. So I think 'Unbreakable' is very much a representation of us just keep moving and keep making music."

The official music video for the "Unbreakable" title track — produced, directed and edited by Jamie Brown for Smoking Gun Inc. — can be seen below.

Recorded at Rogue Studios in Wembley, U.K. by Alessio Garavello and produced by Chris Collier (MICK MARS, KORN, FLAT BLACK),"Unbreakable" is a sonic assault packed with catchy riffs, melodic vocals, and thoughtful lyrics that blends their classic metal roots with modern rock intensity.

"This album digs even deeper," Ellefson said in a press release last month. "It's heavier, more personal, and shaped by everything we've experienced on and off the stage." Soto added: "The energy we poured into this one — it's the sound of two lifetimes colliding in riffs, rage, and redemption."

Ellefson further commented: "One of the things I like most is I feel like you can hear a real sense of brotherhood on our records, that we're really in the creative process together as a band. The consistency of our sound has remained intact while allowing us to further build upon each other's strengths from our debut album. It's an honest, organic approach that blends well and lets us explore new sounds and musical paths. At the end of the day, I don't think there is anything that an artist desires more than that!"

"Unbreakable" will be available on all major streaming platforms with limited edition autographed vinyl, CD and cassette bundles exclusively through Rat Pak Records.

Track listing:

01. Unbreakable
02. SOAB
03. Shout
04. Hate You, Hate Me
05. Poison Tears (featuring Laura Guldemond of BURNING WITCHES)
06. Ghosts
07. Vengeance (feat. Tim "Ripper" Owens of KK'S PRIEST)
08. Snakes And Bastards
09. It's Over When I Say It's Over
10. The Day We Built Rome
11. Death On Two Legs (bonus track) (CD and vinyl)

In a March 2025 interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, Soto spoke about the status of the second album from ELLEFSON-SOTO. He said at the time: "The record's in the can.

"The way Erik Martensson, he's the ringleader, the overseer [of Soto's W.E.T. project], David is that with ELLEFSON-SOTO," Jeff explained. "He pulls the songs together, he gets the timing together, he gets the label side, all the industry-side stuff together. I just have to relax and sit back while I'm doing all the million of other things that I'm doing, and I come in and then I dive in and I put my input.

"I love working with David and Andy [Martongelli], who's our guitar player and also co-writer in the band. And I love the fact that they allow me to be me.

"I've proven myself as an artist, producer, writer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but there are still times where I'll do something and they'll go, 'Hmm, [it's] not really what I thought you were gonna do. Can you try more of this? Try more of that?' I don't mind that at all, because whatever is good for the song, the best thing for the song, of course. But when it comes to ELLEFSON-SOTO, I'm really, really headstrong on the ideas I come up with, and when I send it to David, [I'm] like, 'Oh, God, I hope he doesn't say, 'Oh, I don't know, man.'' And every time, him and Andy say, 'Home run. You knocked that one out of the park. That's awesome.' And that's what motivates me to wanna do more and to give my all into that, even that situation, because I know if I'm making them happy with what I'm turning in, I know in the end, it's gonna be a cohesive sound and project."

Regarding the songwriting approach on the second ELLEFSON-SOTO album, Jeff said: "It's weird because the first album, when we did it, it wasn't supposed to be an album. I was doing songs with David and Andy. We were just writing songs and recording songs during the pandemic. And it turned into, 'Hey, we're on to something here. We can't give these songs to someone else or just use 'em as catalog music. We have something here.' And that's what made us put that out as an album. This time around, we actually went in to record and write an album. We didn't say, 'Let's just write songs and see where it goes.' We actually went in and said, 'This is the sound. This is what we created on the first album. Now let's expand on it.'"

He added: "It's really, really good. I don't listen to my own stuff that often unless I have to learn songs for a tour or a show, but I actually find myself listening to this record just to listen to it."

ELLEFSON-SOTO's debut album, "Vacation In The Underworld", was released in October 2022 via Rat Pak Records. The duo was joined by Martongelli on guitar and keyboards and Paulo Caridi on drums. Giada Jade Etro from the Italian power metal band FROZEN CROWN made a guest appearance on the song "The Day Before Tomorrow". Steve Conley and Ken Mary from FLOTSAM AND JETSAM performed on the title track, "Vacation In The Underworld".

"Vacation In The Underworld" was produced by Chris Collier and featured eleven tracks and three bonus recordings.

To officially launch the project, Ellefson and Soto played concerts in September 2022 in Italy where they performed some of the music as well as ran through various catalog highlights, including selections from MEGADETH and Yngwie Malmsteen. They were joined by Martongelli as the musical director, as well as Caridi on drums and Valerio De Rosa on rhythm guitar.

In March 2021 — two months before David was fired from MEGADETH — Ellefson and Soto announced that they had been collaborating on some new material under the moniker ELLEFSON-SOTO. The ELLEFSON-SOTO version of the RIOT classic "Swords & Tequila" was simultaneously released across all digital streaming outlets via Ellefson's Combat Records.

When Ellefson's collaboration with Soto was first announced, David said in a statement: "Jeff and I have been friends for so many years that it's great to finally collaborate on some material together. He has such a distinctive voice and perfect style for some new ideas my guitarist Andy Martongelli and I have been composing. We are excited about the progress of it all and thought this would be a perfect time to give a little sneak preview."

At the time, Jeff added: "As COVID-19 became a big negative around the globe, it actually offered many artists a chance to finally collaborate with one another that might have never happened otherwise… As I have known David for many years, I knew from our other efforts outside of our day jobs that we could come up with some badass jams…and here we are, letting you in on our cool little secret."

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

In a new interview with U.K.'s Primordial Radio, Andrea Ferro of Italian metallers LACUNA COIL paid tribute to legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne who died last week at the age of 76. Andrea said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "BLACK SABBATH, obviously, we grew up with their music, and being huge TYPE O NEGATIVE fans — TYPE O NEGATIVE was kind of a reincarnation of the BLACK SABBATH sound for us. And it was more the way we discovered that sound. And then we went back to BLACK SABBATH because of TYPE O NEGATIVE. It's always like that — you grow up and you listen to something, then you get where the original inspiration came from, so we became also big BLACK SABBATH fans. But the fact that we got to do two Ozzfests in America, in 2004 and 2006, and we got to meet Ozzy and [his wife and manager] Sharon. We've been picked up by [Ozzy and Sharon's children] Kelly and Jack the very first time we were on Ozzfest in 2004 for the second stage."

He continued: "For us, we always consider Ozzy like our godfather, even if we don't know him really well. We just met him briefly. But still, for us, he was always an important figure. He was like our older uncle, not only because of the musical inspiration, but also because we felt he gave us a special occasion to shine and to break into the North American market. And for a band from Italy, it's not very easy or not very common to happen. So for us, Ozzy was always that almost father figure of, like, we owe him something, because he's been very kind and Sharon's always been kind to us, and we've been upgraded to the main stage in 2006. So it really made a difference for us."

Andrea added: "When we [played Ozzfest] in 2004, it was actually BLACK SABBATH headlining on the original lineup, and we were hanging out with them also on catering, and we became really good friends with Bill Ward, the drummer. Because he had a radio program on college radio in California, and he was playing our tunes on the program. So he always told us, 'Hey, I play you guys all the time in my show.' And so once we got the endorsement from Pearl Drums during Ozzfest, so he came to our trailer of the tour bus and built up the kit with our drummer and try the skins and try the position together. And that was a surreal moment, seeing Bill Ward right there with you, trying the drum kit, talking drums, coming to eat with us at catering. That was a unique experience. And then when we did it in 2006, Ozzy was headlining with his personal band, so we got to see both sets every night for the entire summer. And so for us, Ozzy is definitely a special, special figure."

Reflecting on Ozzy's passing, which happened a little over two weeks after the singer's final performance at the "Back To The Beginning" event in BLACK SABBATH's original hometown of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Andrea said: "It was very sad, obviously, for what happened, but it was also great to… I watched the show streaming, the 'Back To The Beginning' show, and it was great to see that he was there one more time for his fans, doing charity stuff with all those great bands and friends, because we know most of these guys, because we tour with a lot of those bands and people. And to see that, it was relieving, because at least he got to do that before he knew probably that he didn't have a lot of time in front of him. And so it was kind of both sad and bittersweet, because I was happy for him to be able to do it. On the other hand, you knew that it was gonna be sort of a real ending. And so it was sad news. But on the other hand, I am glad he did have the chance to do that."

Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.

"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time," the family said.

No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson's disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.

Sharon Osbourne has shot down as "ridiculous" reports that BLACK SABBATH's farewell concert raised nearly $200 million.

In the days after the July 5 event, dubbed "Back To The Beginning", the event's musical director, Tom Morello, shared an Instagram post stating that roughly $190 million (140 million British pounds) would be donated to charity from the concert. Billboard magazine later also reported that the event had raised $190 million, while The Guardian reported that the pay-per-view livestream of the event reached nearly six million fans, generating an estimated $150 million in revenue. At the time, it was expected that the funds would be distributed equally to Birmingham Children's Hospital, Acorn Children's Hospice and Cure Parkinson's — an organization dedicated to finding a cure for the disease Osbourne had lived with since 2019.

In an interview with music industry trade publication Pollstar, conducted on July 17 — just five days before Ozzy's death — his wife and manager said that claims of "Back To The Beginning" raising nearly $200 million are highly inaccurate.

"One of the things that's frightening me is all this false press about [how], we've made $140 million and all of this, and I'm like, God, I wish we could have, for one gig," Sharon said. "It's just ridiculous, the different stories. I went on the internet the next morning and it was like, $140 million, $160 million. And I'm like, Where does this stuff come from?"

"It takes a really long time [to arrive at the final number that will be donated to charity], because we've had all of the bands that we had come in and their expenses, and it'll take a good six weeks to get the final number," she continued.

When Pollstar writer Ray Waddell noted that "these reports are not helpful for the Children's Hospital to see, waiting for their $190 million", Sharon responded: "Oh my God! It's the Children's Hospital, a children's hospice, and Parkinson's research. Everybody thinks that they're going to cure everything with this much money, but it's not the real world."

Sharon went on to say that the concert, which also featured a solo performance from Ozzy, as well as appearances by METALLICA, SLAYER, PANTERA, GUNS N' ROSES and TOOL, among many others, was "a huge success." She said: "It was a phenomenal event. It was the first time, I think, that anybody's gone into retirement and done it, where the show is streamed and it goes to charity. So it's the first time anybody has said goodnight like that, it's the perfect way, when you've had such a long career, to end it. I never wanted Ozzy to just disappear without some big event."

Billboard reported last month that the concert was watched by 40,000 ticketholders and 5.8 million individuals online, with each of the above-mentioned charities also raising tens of thousands of pounds in additional donations by raffling off tickets to the show, auctioning off iconic art and band photographs donated by BLACK SABBATH, and through individual contributions from fans as they streamed into the concert, which took place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

At "Back To The Beginning", Ozzy played a five-song set with his solo band — consisting of guitarist Zakk Wylde, bassist Mike Inez, keyboardist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos — before being joined by fellow original BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar),Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) for four classic SABBATH songs: "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "N.I.B." and "Paranoid".

Ozzy's solo set consisted of four songs from Osbourne's 1980 solo debut album "Blizzard Of Ozz" — "I Don't Know", "Mr. Crowley", "Suicide Solution" and "Crazy Train" — along with his 1991 "No More Tears" ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home".

The 76-year-old heavy metal singer sang while seated on a black throne and appeared overcome with emotion at times. "You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he told the crowd.

At the end of SABBATH's set, Ozzy said: "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts." Osbourne was then presented with a cake, while fireworks lit up the stadium from overhead.

A message on screen then read, "Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever," before the sky lit up with fireworks.

Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate also reportedly said the musician suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

In a new interview with Charlie Kendall of Charlie Kendall's Metalshop, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson spoke about his plans for more new solo music following the release of his latest solo album, "The Mandrake Project", which arrived in March 2024. Bruce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "We're going in the studio in January next year to record the album with Brendan Duffey, who remixed [Dickinson's second solo album, 1994's] 'Balls To Picasso' and did an amazing job. So we go in the studio with him in January, and we are looking to release the album in '27… The amazing band that is gonna record the new record with me is gonna be the same band that toured in Europe with me, and it's gonna be the same band that's gonna tour with me in 2027 when we release the new record. Or at least that's the idea anyway, to release a new record [in 2027]."

Dickinson also talked about his upcoming "The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour, which is scheduled to kick off on August 22 in Anaheim, California. He said: "This summer I'm touring the USA for the first time with 'Mandrake', and also we're playing stuff from [1998's] 'The Chemical Wedding', [1997's] 'Accident Of Birth'… I mean, I've got seven studio albums to pick from. Obviously, I'm gonna be playing some stuff from 'Balls To Picasso', so 'Tears [Of The Dragon]' is gonna be in there and some other stuff, 'Gods Of War' probably, for sure. And a real cool mix of tracks. I mean, stuff like 'The Alchemist', people in Europe, they're, like, 'Oh my God. He's playing 'The Alchemist' from 'The Chemical Wedding'.' I went, 'Yep, we're doing that. And 'Chemical Wedding'.' And other things too that people will go, 'Oh, that's really cool.' I hope they do anyway."

According to Bruce, his setlist for the upcoming solo tour will include one IRON MAIDEN song, "Revelations", which was written solely by him and originally appeared on the band's 1983 album "Piece Of Mind". He explained: "Because I'm going down to South America on this run just for one show — 'cause the reason is it's the 40th anniversary since I set foot in Rock In Rio, and there's a big festival in São Paulo called The Town. So it's a huge festival. I'm down there. I'm gonna be doing the show [on September 7]. So I'm gonna play one of what I might call my MAIDEN songs, 'cause obviously I wrote some of them completely on my own. Da da. People say, 'Hey, who wrote the guitar part to 'Revelations'?' I went, 'You know the bit where it says who wrote the song? Did you see anybody else's name there?' They go, 'Oh, man, I didn't know you played guitar.' So anyway, I used to play guitar with MAIDEN for 10 seconds on stage, but I think the bastards never plugged it in."

Reflecting on MAIDEN's 1985 performance at the Rock In Rio festival, Bruce said: "So, I'm in Rio, and the sound was awful. I got so pissed off. I took the guitar off. I was so grumpy. I hit myself in the head, blood cold coming down from a head wound, from the guitar, from the edge of the guitar. That was all on the big screen. So the audience were, like, 'Oh my God. He's bleeding for his heart.' The manager asked me to squeeze it some more 'cause it looked great on the cameras. And that photograph became kind of legendary in Brazil. So I'm gonna do that song ['Revelations'] down in Brazil. And I thought, 'Hell, if I'm gonna rehearse 'Revelations' for Brazil, oh, damn it, I might as well do it in the USA as well.' So I think that'd be kind of cool. We're not playing it on this next tour, this next MAIDEN tour. And I think because it's my song, if I wanna tweak a few things and make a few little alterations that I think might maybe make it a little bit better, then, yeah, it's my song. I'll do what I damn well like."

Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the "The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour will once again be his 2024 backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O'Callaghan (bass),alongside the group's latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson's "Rain On The Graves" single). Bruce's longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.

"The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour kicks off in Anaheim, California at the House of Blues on August 22 and takes the band across North America including shows in New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Florida and Canada, with festival appearances at Rocklahoma (Oklahoma) and Louder Than Life (Kentucky). The tour also includes a quick return to Brazil for the aforementioned prestigious The Town festival at the City Of Light in São Paulo.

Prior to the April 12, 2024 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

Roy played guitar on Dickinson's 1994 album "Balls To Picasso" and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce's subsequent three solo albums, "Accident At Birth" (1997),"The Chemical Wedding" (1998) and "Tyranny Of Souls" (2005).

O'Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.

Californian drummer Moreno previously played on "Tyranny Of Souls" and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.

Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.

"The Mandrake Project" arrived on March 1, 2024 via BMG.

Bruce and Roy recorded "The Mandrake Project" largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's last solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Dickinson's reworked version of his classic 1994 album "Balls To Picasso", now titled "More Balls To Picasso", arrived on July 25.

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.

Photo credit: John McMurtrie

On the heels of the excitement from their last surprise release "Dodged A Bullet", rockers SAVING ABEL have dropped a music video for their newest track "Keep Swinging", now available everywhere. The band comprised of Jared Weeks (vocals),Riley Haynie (guitars),Blake Scopino (guitars),Greg Young (bass) and Dave Moraata (drums) created an upbeat rocker driven by Weeks's unmistakable vocals. The song — written by Weeks and collaborator Skidd Mills — talks about not giving up in the face of adversity as Weeks sings "Keep pushing, keep swinging." The video — directed by Austin Dellamano in conjunction with Weems Creative — showcases a boxer getting ready for his next fight and the training that leads to victory.

SAVING ABEL is hitting the road in support of the two new tracks on the recently announced "Keep Swinging" tour. The 23-city headline trek kicks off on August 30 in French Lick, Indiana and wraps up on October 25 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Along the way, the tour will make stops in Greenville, South Carolina (September 4); Cleveland, Ohio (September 16) Corpus Christi, Texas (September 30) and Baltimore, Maryland (October 15),to name a few. Rising hard rockers DEAD SUGAR will be joining SAVING ABEL on their electric shows while New York quartet KING FALCON will be joining the band on their acoustic dates.

"Keep Swinging" 2025 headline tour dates:

Aug. 30 - French Lick, IN - Party at Pakota *
Sep. 03 - Fredericksburg, VA - Hard Times Cafe at Four Mile Fork *
Sep. 04 - Greenville, SC - Radio Room *
Sep. 05 - South Salisbury, NC - Smoke Out Rally *
Sep. 07 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In *
Sep. 08 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall *
Sep. 10 - Pittsburgh, PA - Crafthouse Stage & Grill *
Sep. 11 - Des Plaines, IL - The Des Plaines Theatre *
Sep. 13 - Lansing, MI - Grewal Hall at 224 *
Sep. 14 - Cincinnati, OH - The Ludlow Garage *
Sep. 16 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
Sep. 18 - Chesterfield, MO - Diesel Concert Lounge *
Sep. 20 - Iowa City, IA - First Avenue Club *
Sep. 21 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue *
Sep. 30 - Corpus Christi, TX - Brewster Street Icehouse Downtown #
Oct. 02 - Elk City, OK - Blockhouse Sports Bar #
Oct. 03 - Plano, TX - Love & War in Texas #
Oct. 04 - Tahlequah, OK - Dewain's Place #
Oct. 15 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage Presents *
Oct. 17 - Liverpool, NY - Sharkey's Event Center *
Oct. 23 - Foxborough, MA - Six String Grill & Stage *
Oct. 24 - Manchester, NH - Angel City Music Hall *
Oct. 25 - Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theater *

* Special guests DEAD SUGAR
# Special acoustic show with KING FALCON

SAVING ABEL is a Southern rock band with catchy hooks and heavy riffs that has been making music for over two decades. Their first single, "Addicted", broke on to the scene, climbing its way quickly into a crossover hit from mainstream rock to Billboard Hot 100 and Top 40. Their self-titled debut album charted on Billboard's Top 50 and became RIAA-certified multi-platinum. The LP delivered two more No. 1 singles, with "18 Days" and "Drowning (Face Down)", across multiple charts and solidified this band's name in rock. Their sophomore album, "Miss America", did not disappoint and followed down the same path their debut record had set. After five Top 10 Billboard-charting releases, SAVING ABEL went back into the studio for their third record "Bringing Down The Giant". They released the title track from that album, finding success and breaking the top 10 on multiple charts. In 2023, the band returned with two new singles, "Baptize Me" in April 2023 and "Fire" in August of 2023.

SAVING ABEL has received multiple awards from MTV, VH1, Fuse, BMG and Music Choice. "Addicted" won the most-played song of the year. The band has over two billion global streams. They have been part of some of the top-grossing tours of all time with bands such as NICKELBACK, PAPA ROACH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, SHINEDOWN and SEVENDUST.

Photo credit: J. Austin Dellamano

In a new interview with Anthony Bryant of The Hair Metal Guru, Jason McMaster of Texas rockers DANGEROUS TOYS, who achieved a short-but-sweet burst of success in the midst of the late 1980s glam metal boom, spoke about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I was kind of living in my own bubble. And if someone says that grunge killed hair metal — I throw up in my mouth every time I say 'hair metal', but I'm trying to be crystal clear — I think that that's wrong. I think that hair metal killed hair metal. Too many bands got signed and there [were] too many terrible bands [that] got signed. And if you think that DANGEROUS TOYS is one of those terrible bands, I'm open to that. I'm cool with you thinking that. But it was ridiculous as to how far it got taken with the whole look and the whole feel of everything. I feel like it didn't have any balls anymore. And it was supposed to have some balls.

"Me and all the TOYS guys really respected a lot of the bands that were sort of not at war against hairspray or whatever," Jason continued. "It was more like they felt real to me, and those are bands like JUNKYARD and RHINO BUCKET and RAGING SLAB and CIRCUS OF POWER, and there's a shit-ton of them. There's a bunch of that sort of movement that had more of a punk, dirty alleycat style of whatever — just rock and roll. It was coming more from maybe a southern rock attitude or an early AC/DC attitude where it wasn't about hair. I mean, I know people that call AC/DC a hair metal band. I know that [TWISTED SISTER's] Dee Snider doesn't like the term 'hair metal' because it doesn't really play in to what they were kind of about, because they were kind of a street rock band. And anyway, I think that DIRTY LOOKS was one of those bands as well. And like I said, I could keep going — there's a stack of them that didn't really play in to… And I won't mention — just whatever you think is hair metal might be quite different than what I think is hair metal."

McMaster added: "So I think hair metal killed hair metal. I think grunge was about to happen anyway. For those of you who might not know, SOUNDGARDEN and NIRVANA — I'll just stick with them — they were touring their first records in, like, '87. So, I don't know. It just took a minute [for those bands to break], just like it took a minute for GUNS [N' ROSES to have commercial success]. GUNS didn't break [right away], and that record, 'Appetite [For Destruction]' was out for a year, year and a half before it really had any numbers to speak of.

"It's interesting how music kind of has to sort of warm up and people have to discover it in the underground before someone can really make it stick," Jason concluded. "And that's usually radio and back then MTV. Now it's content."

Founded in 1987, DANGEROUS TOYS released four full-length albums and one live album before unofficially disbanding at the turn of the millennium.

DANGEROUS TOYS' self-titled debut album, which came out in 1989, eventually went gold (although it took until 1994),while the group's follow-up, 1991's "Hellacious Acres", failed to launch.

Although DANGEROUS TOYS continues to perform live, the band has not released any new material since 1995.

A few years ago, McMaster was asked by Metal Edge magazine why he thinks "Hellacious Acres" failed to reach the same levels of success as DANGEROUS TOYS' debut. He responded: "I think it had a lot to do with the whole Seattle movement. That record came out in '91, the same year NIRVANA and PEARL JAM dropped their first albums. But a lot of people got really into grunge, and that buried a band like DANGEROUS TOYS. It felt like the streets in cities like L.A. emptied, and everyone changed their wardrobes overnight. So, when I think of 'Hellacious Acres', I think about what could have been. It's an awesome record, and at the time, it boggled my mind that people weren't into it."

Asked if that is what led to DANGEROUS TOYS eventually being dropped from Columbia, McMaster said: "Absolutely. You had this new style of rock music that had all these people latching on to it, and it killed bands like us. The radio and MTV wanted nothing to do with us and refused to play our stuff. So, an album like 'Hellacious Acres' never had a chance. Couple that with the giant moguls and money-making machines throwing all their weight behind grunge and acts like DANGEROUS TOYS were essentially dead in the water. So, with Columbia, labels have to do whatever the trends say they must do for them to pay their giant rents or whatever. It wasn't a shock that Columbia jumped ship on us, just like all the other major labels did with other bands. I mean… I know they were trying their best to have some sort of ditch effort with Alice Cooper, JUDAS PRIEST, METAL CHURCH and MOTÖRHEAD around that time, but it didn't matter. If you played hard rock or metal, you were screwed. By '91, they cleaned the shelf of all that was popular in the '80s, which meant sleazy hard rock was dying, and our record and our deal died with it."

During an appearance on today's (Wednesday, August 6) episode of "The Howard Stern Show" on SiriusXM, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich reflected on his band's participation in the "Back To The Beginning" event, which marked Ozzy Osbourne and BLACK SABBATH's final performance. Asked if there were any "pinch-me moments" at the concert for him, Lars said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, of course. I mean, listen, my relationships with these guys go back to opening for Ozzy on 'The Ultimate Sin' tour in 1986. Really, Ozzy and [his wife and manager] Sharon introduced METALLICA to a mainstream audience.

"Tom [Morello, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist and 'Back To The Beginning' music curator] called and said, 'We think this can happen next summer. Will you be there?' And, of course, we were, 'Fuck yeah.' You walk in and it's, 'Oh my God. There's Steven Tyler [AEROSMITH].' 'Oh my God. There's Chad Smith [RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS].' 'Oh my god. There's Sammy Hagar [VAN HALEN].' And then [photographer] Ross [Halfin] asked me to sit on the armrest of Ozzy's throne next to him. That was kind of like front row. And we hugged it out. The soundcheck was the next day."

Ulrich added: "I think there was a sense from all the musicians and fans of BLACK SABBATH, we were hoping for the best, we wanted it to be the best, we wanted it to be a grand slam, but we didn't know, because ultimately none of us knew what kind of shape they were in. And then they started playing 'War Pigs', and I think instantly for all of us who were watching, it was just, like, 'Okay, it's gonna be fine. They sound great, if not better than ever.' And then Ozzy came in singing. Everybody was just, like, 'They're gonna fucking kill it.' Nobody walked away going, 'That's the last time we'll see Ozzy.' [We thought], 'We'll see him at some event, or we'll be there to present another award for him.' So when he passed two weeks later, we were all just so stunned. That was the word that was being texted around to everybody on the text chains that I was on: 'This is just so fucking stunning.' At the same time, he got to accomplish that concert that had been in him since before COVID. Maybe it was just the load off his shoulders that he got to accomplish what he wanted, and then maybe he just sort of let go. Who knows?"

On the day of Ozzy's death, METALLICA paid tribute to the BLACK SABBATH singer, writing on social media: "OZZY RIP. It's impossible to put into words what Ozzy Osbourne has meant to METALLICA. Hero, icon, pioneer, inspiration, mentor, and most of all, friend are a few that come to mind. Ozzy and Sharon believed in us and transformed our lives and careers. He taught us how to play in the big leagues while at the same time being warm, welcoming, engaging, and all around brilliant.

"We are heartbroken and devastated by this loss and send our love and condolences to Sharon and their family, bandmates, and his very large circle of friends. He left an incredible legacy and will be sorely missed."

METALLICA played a six-song set at BLACK SABBATH's "Back To The Beginning" charity event on July 5. The San Francisco Bay Area metal legends opened their performance with the SABBATH "Sabotage" classic "Hole In The Sky" and continued with two of their own songs, "Creeping Death" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" before returning to covering SABBATH with "Johnny Blade" off the latter's "Never Say Die!" album. METALLICA concluded its set by playing two more of its classic songs: "Battery" and "Master Of Puppets".

In a recent interview with Heavy Consequence, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett stated about his band's appearance at "Back To The Beginning": "It's a real opportunity to say thank you to Ozzy and Tony [Iommi] and Geezer [Butler] and Bill [Ward], 'cause they fricking wrote the book on the genre. They developed it, they fleshed it out so that we can use what they did as a stepping stone to other ways to do this."

Hammett continued: "If it wasn't for those four guys, man, we might still be just kind of like wandering around in the dark. But the fact that they created a genre — not only created it, but then developed it and, and, and then turned it into like a few different things over the course of their career — is completely awe inspiring to me and my peers musically. I mean, how do you thank someone like that? … I feel lucky and blessed that I'm in a situation where I can actually say thank you to the progenitors of a fricking genre. I love those guys. I have love for them for what they did. And I just want them to know that I'm just extremely thankful, 'cause my life would be extremely different if they didn't do what they did."

Nearly two decades ago, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told Rolling Stone magazine that he was surprised at how choked up he had gotten while honoring BLACK SABBATH at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in March 2006 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Hetfield — dressed in black jeans and a black shirt amid a sea of tuxedos — fought back tears as he recalled a young James, nine years old, stealing SABBATH records from his older brother. "Those monstrous riffs lived inside of him and spoke the feelings he could never put into words, sending chills of inspiration through him," Hetfield said. "They helped crack the shell he was stuck in. Also, scaring his mom and sister was an extra bonus. And now, as the former nine-year-old speaks to you here, as an adult musician — I know those two words really don't go together — I realize that without their defining sound, there would be no METALLICA, especially with one James Hetfield. Never have I known a more timeless and influential band. They have spread their wonderful disease through generations of musicians. They are always listed as an influence by heavy bands to this day. They are loved and highly respected as the fathers of heavy music."

Afterward, Hetfield told Rolling Stone, "It was like, 'Oh, no, I'm going to start crying,'" he said. "I'd never known it until I had to access all those emotions in front of that crowd, but it just goes to show how much SABBATH mean."

In addition to inducting SABBATH into the Rock Hall, METALLICA performed a medley of SABBATH songs ("Hole In The Sky" and "Iron Man") during the ceremony.

In his induction speech, Ulrich said about BLACK SABBATH: "Bill, Geezer, Ozzy and Tony, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here. Obviously if there was no BLACK SABBATH, there would be no METALLICA. If there was no BLACK SABBATH, hard rock and heavy metal as we know it today would look, sound and be shaped very, very differently. So if there was no BLACK SABBATH, I could possibly still be a morning newspaper delivery boy — no fun, no fun. So thank you for meeting, thank you for knowing each other, and thank you for forming a band.

"As one who has fought labeling at any opportunity given, I hereby not only acknowledge but scream from every fucking rooftop that BLACK SABBATH is and always will be synonymous with the term 'heavy metal.'

"SABBATH join what I consider a very short list of artists who can claim to be synonymous with their specific genre of music — one being Bob Marley with reggae, Bob Dylan with folk, Johnny Cash with country, perhaps Bill Haley with rockabilly, but no matter how you fucking slice and dice it, when you say 'heavy metal,' the words BLACK SABBATH hover in the shadows fighting for pole position. On any given day, the heavy metal genre might as well be subtitled 'music derivative of BLACK SABBATH.' Sure, we're all respectful to BLUE CHEER, we're enamored with LED ZEPPELIN, we're in awe of DEEP PURPLE and of course admiring of STEPPENWOLF and John Kay's first uttering of the words 'heavy metal,' but when it comes to defining a genre within the world of heavy music, SABBATH stand alone. They took pre-existing elements of blues, rock and soul, threw in the right amount of darkness and street cred, and fused those elements with a previously undiscovered 'X' factor — whatever the fuck that was — creating something unheard, unexperienced, unique and utterly groundbreaking with their huge hymns of doom. BLACK SABBATH are an entity of their own — in my mind, the only word that fits is the word 'pioneer.' They were, and much more importantly, still are considered pioneers of all things heavy. All the metal bands and all the so-called subgenres of metal still trace their lineage to one place: four kids in their late teens from the black country of Birmingham who named their band after a 1963 Italian horror movie starring Boris Karloff. Subsequently they changed hard rock and by doing so the entire family tree of metal and everything that metal, for better or worse, stands for, was and will be forever both invigorated and elevated."

More than 40,000 fans attended "Back To The Beginning", which also saw performances from BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy Osbourne, GUNS N' ROSES, SLAYER, PANTERA, LAMB OF GOD and ANTHRAX, among others. Profits from the show will be shared equally between the charities Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice.

The all-day event at Villa Park, produced by Live Nation, was hosted and compered by American actor Jason Momoa, and featured a supergroup of musicians.

A livestream of the daylong event was announced in June. While it was called a livestream, the video was delayed two hours from the in-arena start time.