“Some of the biggest artists who are performing have not been announced": Tom Morello teases "surprises" at Black Sabbath's farewell gig, and advises fans to "get there early"

Tom Morello has shared some intel about Black Sabbath’s upcoming Villa Park gig, which is already shaping up to be the metal show of the century.

The Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist was asked to be musical director of the day by Sharon Osbourne and in an interview with The Independent, Morello described how between himself, Ozzy and Sharon, the three have gone about shaping the event.

“The North Star from the first conversation was to make this the greatest day in the history of heavy metal,” he said.

“Black Sabbath invented the genre… it’s a tribute to (them) but unlike other tributes, Black Sabbath’s going to play at the end of the night, and so it’s a chance for artists of all ages and branches of the heavy metal tree to pay respects by playing some of our own music that owes a debt to Black Sabbath, and then also have 14 to 16 of the greatest Black Sabbath cover bands that ever graced the stage.”

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As we already know, the line-up that they’ve put together is simply astonishing: Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Anthrax, Mastodon and Rival Sons. Then there is the ‘supergroup’ that is likely to include Billy Corgan, Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith and Andrew Watt, as well as Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N’ Roses.

And there are likely to be more names added, according to Morello: “Some of the biggest artists who are performing have not been announced,” he revealed. “There’ll be some surprises during the day.”

Asked what fans should expect, Morello advised them to “get there early”.

He added: “I think it’ll be very emotional for Black Sabbath fans in the room and around the world on that day, to really give that band their due.”

Meanwhile, Zakk Wylde has been suggesting that 5 July may not be the end of the road for Ozzy after all. Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, the guitarist said: “The game plan is, let’s hope this is what happens, I mean, you always gotta stay on the bright side of life, because Oz was singing at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame thing.

“Ozzy was just sitting on the chair and he was singing Mama, I’m Coming Home, and it sounded great. So hopefully we’ll just do this and then Oz will go ‘let’s fire up the machine again and we’ll do another tour.”

We’ll see. Tickets for 5 July? You’ll be lucky. When the Osbournes donated a pair of tickets to a charity auction in aid of a Birmingham children’s hospice that took place this week, one anonymous bidder pledged £16,700.