Jack Osbourne has once again clarified the true amount raised by Black Sabbath's farewell concert, pushing back hard against the wildly inflated figures that circulated in mainstream media following the historic event.
Speaking on Tyler Ramsey's Painful Lessons: Punk Rock Sober podcast, Osbourne confirmed that the July 5, 2025 concert — titled Back To The Beginning — ultimately generated just under $10 million for charity, a far cry from the $150–$190 million figures that dominated headlines in the days after the show. "The number was complete bullshit," Jack said bluntly.
In the immediate aftermath of Back To The Beginning, Tom Morello (the event's musical director) shared a post suggesting that roughly £140 million ($190 million) would be donated to charity. That number was quickly picked up by outlets including Billboard, while The Guardian reported that the pay-per-view livestream reached nearly six million viewers, estimating $150 million in gross revenue.
But according to Jack Osbourne, those figures confused gross revenue with net charitable donations — a crucial distinction for a massive, logistically complex event. "This is how you know the news is probably 90% bullshit," Jack said. "CNN and The New York Times were saying, 'Ozzy raised $150 million.' And it wasn't that."
Jack explained that while Back To The Beginning was a charity concert, the production still came with enormous costs — from staging and travel to accommodations for dozens of artists and crew members. "No bands got paid, and most of the crew donated their time," he said. "But you still have to pay for the actual gig."
When all expenses were settled, the final donation total was significantly smaller — though still substantial. "I think when all was said and done, each charity got, like, one and a half or two million pounds each," Jack explained. "So it was six or seven million pounds — about $9.4 million."
The funds were split between Birmingham Children's Hospital, Acorn Children's Hospice, and Cure Parkinson's, the latter being particularly meaningful given Ozzy Osbourne's Parkinson's diagnosis in 2019.
Jack's comments align with earlier statements made by Sharon Osbourne, who repeatedly attempted to correct the narrative in the months following the show.
Speaking on The Osbournes podcast last November, Sharon said the concert raised approximately $11 million gross, before production costs were deducted. "If one show could have raised $190 million," she said, "any artist could just do one big show, film it, and retire."
She also addressed the misinformation directly in a July 2025 interview with Pollstar, calling the reports "frightening" and "ridiculous." "Everybody thinks they're going to cure everything with this much money," she said. "But it's not the real world."
