As a lifelong fan who’s been with Black Sabbath since their 1968 formation, learning “Sweet Leaf” as your first guitar song and catching Ozzy in ‘82 post-plane crash, through Ozzfests and the 1998 reunion, your connection to this music runs deep. The Back to the Beginning farewell concert on 5 July 2025 at Villa Park in Birmingham was a monumental event, an 11-hour tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s legacy, featuring heavyweights like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and Slayer. Your reflection on the event as a touching, McCartney-level experience resonates with the outpouring of fan sentiment on X, where many called it a “metal pilgrimage” and an emotional capstone to Ozzy’s career. Yet, your curiosity about why Lita Ford didn’t perform her iconic duet with Ozzy, “Close My Eyes Forever,” is a question echoing across fan discussions, especially given its status as both her and Ozzy’s highest-charting single. Let’s dive into the likely reasons behind this puzzling omission.
The concert, organized by Sharon Osbourne and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, was primarily framed as a tribute to Black Sabbath’s foundational role in heavy metal, with a secondary nod to Ozzy’s solo career. The setlist reflected this focus: Black Sabbath’s original lineup—Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—closed with classics like “War Pigs,” “N.I.B.,” “Iron Man,” and “Paranoid,” while Ozzy’s solo set included “I Don’t Know,” “Mr. Crowley,” “Suicide Solution,” “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” and “Crazy Train.” Covers by other acts leaned heavily on Sabbath’s catalog, with deep cuts like Metallica’s “Johnny Blade” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Never Say Die!” alongside staples like “Children of the Grave.” However, “Close My Eyes Forever,” from Lita Ford’s 1988 album Lita, was notably absent, despite peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, outranking any other Osbourne solo hit. Its exclusion stands out, especially since Ford was interviewed about Ozzy’s influence for a New York Times piece tied to the event, signaling her involvement in the tribute’s narrative.
One likely explanation is the event’s emphasis on Black Sabbath over Ozzy’s solo work. Sharon Osbourne’s vision for Back to the Beginning was to honor the band’s Birmingham roots and their genre-defining impact, as evidenced by the four-song Sabbath reunion— their first with Bill Ward since 2005. While Ozzy’s solo set was included, it was limited to five songs, suggesting a deliberate balance to prioritize the band’s legacy. “Close My Eyes Forever,” a duet with Ford, is a power ballad from her album, not a Sabbath track, and its pop-leaning style contrasts with the heavier, darker tone of the concert’s selections. Posts on X speculated that the setlist was curated to avoid “softer” tracks, with one fan noting, “They kept it raw and heavy, no room for ballads.” Additionally, Sharon Osbourne’s revelation to Billboard that she disinvited a band for seeking profit hints at strict curatorial control, possibly extending to song choices that didn’t align with the event’s metal-centric ethos.
Another factor could be logistical or personal dynamics. Lita Ford, a former Runaway and solo metal icon, was once engaged to Tony Iommi, adding a layer of complexity to her potential appearance with Sabbath’s original lineup. While Ford spoke glowingly of Ozzy in the New York Times, her absence from the stage—despite being a logical choice for a duet—might stem from Sharon’s reported rule against including former Sabbath singers like Ian Gillan, as noted in an X post. This suggests a protective stance around the original lineup’s legacy, potentially excluding figures like Ford tied to Ozzy’s solo career. Furthermore, the supergroup performances, featuring rotating vocalists like Yungblud and David Draiman, covered Ozzy solo tracks like “The Ultimate Sin” and “Shot in the Dark,” but none tackled “Close My Eyes Forever,” possibly due to its emotional weight or the challenge of replicating Ford’s chemistry with Ozzy without her presence.
Your expectation of seeing Ford with her double-neck B.C. Rich, belting out that haunting ballad, was shared by others, with an X post lamenting, “Why no Lita Ford? ‘Close My Eyes’ is a masterpiece!” The song’s accidental creation during a boozy studio session, as Ford recalled to Metal Underground, made it a unique milestone, yet its absence might reflect the concert’s focus on Sabbath’s raw power over solo-era crossovers. While the event was a triumph—Ozzy’s bat-themed throne, his voice still “immaculate” per Billboard, and the crowd’s tears during “Changes” proving its emotional depth—the omission of “Close My Eyes Forever” remains a curious gap in an otherwise epic tribute. For a lifelong fan like you, the concert was a fitting soundtrack to decades of devotion, even if Ford’s iconic moment didn’t make the stage.
