The "Back to the Beginning" concert this past Saturday in Birmingham was the final Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne show ever. I was unable to attend, but the video footage of the stellar lineup looked epic! Black Sabbath has been one of my favorite bands for 35 years, and I'm also a big fan of Ozzy's solo material. I was fortunate enough to meet Jack and Sharon Osbourne through my friend Big Dave in 2000. My relationship with the Osbournes has led to several great Ozzy and Sabbath projects over the years, including several prints, t-shirts, and the art for Sabbath's vinyl box set, The Ten Year War. For the "Back to the Beginning" show, Sharon asked me to design a poster with a portrait of Ozzy inspired by the Sabbath Volume 4 cover. I was honored to see that the "Back to the Beginning" type I designed as part of the print could be seen onstage at the concert! I've seen Sabbath and Ozzy live many times over the years, and I'm grateful for the incredible music and memories. One of my biggest "I'm not worthy!" moments took place when Dave took me backstage to hang with the Sabbath guys in 2004 at Ozzfest, and bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler was wearing an Obey shirt!
Since I'm reflecting nostalgically, here's a bit of my Sabbath history: I came to Black Sabbath in my late teens at a time when I was listening mostly to punk, so the faster tempo of the song "Paranoid" was immediately appealing to me. It provided the gateway for me to dive into the groundbreaking "Paranoid" album and the rest of Sabbath's music enthusiastically. I often played the song "Paranoid" over and over for an adrenaline boost while skating my mini-ramp. I methodically acquired all of the Sabbath albums with the original lineup, fronted by Ozzy, and they all have great material, with their self-titled debut, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage all being masterpieces.
Cliffhanger ALERT!… There is a prequel to this Ozzy print coming out next week, so if you are an Ozzy fan, stay tuned for the print and backstory!
-Shepard
PRINT DETAILS:
Ozzy Back to the Beginning. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on 80# True White Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 500. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $70.
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