Wolfgang Van Halen has announced that he's withdrawing from Black Sabbath's Back To The Beginning farewell show, which will take place at Birmingham's Villa Park on July 5.
Van Halen, who was originally slated to perform as part of an all-star “supergroup” alongside Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), David Ellefson (ex-Megadeth), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) and Jonathan Davis (Korn), confirmed his exit during an interview with Detroit's WRIF Radio.
"I, unfortunately, had to back out because the Creed tour starts the day after, and I [wouldn't] be able to pull it off, unfortunately," says Van Halen, whose band Mammoth are supporting on the tour. "I'm very excited to watch it, but I unfortunately had to back out."
Creed's tour actually kicks off four days after the Sabbath show, on July 9, at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY, so it must be assumed that Van Halen has pre-production duties and rehearsals to attend.
Yesterday, Black Sabbath shared a first glimpse of their rehearsals for their last-ever show, when Ozzy Osbourne posted a picture of himself, drummer Bill Ward and bassist Geezer Butler as they readied themselves for the show.
Osbourne is set to perform both with Sabbath and as a solo artist, and the supporting lineup includes Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Gojira, Mastodon, Anthrax and many more.
Tickets to Back To The Beginning quickly sold out after it was announced in February, but it was recently confirmed that the show will be live-streamed. Tickets to the stream are on sale now.
