BBC will no longer broadcast "high-risk" performances
United Kingdom correspondent Edward O'Driscoll spoke to Lisa Owen about the BCC which has said it will no longer live broadcast "high-risk" performances after the controversy over Bob Vylan's Glastonbury gig, as well as a pair of same-sex penguins at Chester Zoo, who have successfully hatched and raised a chick.
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RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath perform final ever show, with support from metal royalty
By Clément Zampa , AFP Black Sabbath. Photo: Ross Halfin / supplied Black Sabbath. Photo: Ross Halfin / supplied Heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne brought down the curtain on his stellar career with Black Sabbath on Saturday (UK time), rattling through the band's most iconic songs in front of an adoring hometown crowd. The 'Prince of Darkness' held court from a giant leather throne, topped with a bat, at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, firstly in a five-song solo set and then with his original bandmates for the first time in 20 years, and last time. "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle… thank you from the bottom of our hearts," the 76-year-old singer told the crowd after finishing the set with 'Paranoid' - the band's most famous song. The stadium in Birmingham, central England, is a stone's throw from where the band formed 57 years ago, pioneering the hard-rock style that gave rise to heavy metal. And the genre's big hitters were in town to pay tribute to the band that started it all. Anthrax were one of the first acts on stage, with early arrivers giving the US rockers a rapturous welcome and getting the mosh pit into full swing. They were later followed by a rock royalty collaboration, as Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood performed Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love'. Guns N'Roses sent the 40,000 fans wild with the first chords to 'Welcome to the Jungle', and there were other sets from Pantera, Tool, Slayer and Metallica. "Without Sabbath there would be no Metallica. Thank you for giving us a purpose in life," Metallica's singer James Hetfield said. But it was the prodigal son and his bandmates that the crowd were desperate to see, greeting them on stage with a sea of arms before moshing to 'War Pigs'. "Everything was just phenomenal, you were just caught up in it. We were singing as loud as we could for Ozzy," Dave Chapman, 57, told AFP. "He could see the support," added his 29-year-old daughter Lilly. "That's what kept making me cry... he can see that we love him." Many thousands around the world followed the concert online after tickets for the show sold out in just 16 minutes. Osbourne, who revealed in 2020 that he has Parkinson's disease, joined Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for the 'Back To The Beginning' show in Birmingham, where the heavy metal giants formed in 1968. They have since sold over 75 million albums worldwide. Fans watch support acts, during British rock band Black Sabbath's 'Back to The Beginning' concert, Ozzy Osbourne's final ever gig as Black Sabbath's frontman at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on 5 July, 2025. Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP The stadium, which hosted Champions League football last season, was transformed into something resembling a pagan cathedral on Saturday, with fans decked in dark metal T-shirts, many sporting long hair, thick beards and large tattoos. "Birmingham is a city which means so much to Ozzy. When it comes to heavy metal music, Black Sabbath forming and his love of Aston Villa - it all started here," said his wife, Sharon. All profits from the show will go to charities including Cure Parkinson's and Birmingham Children's Hospital. Osbourne's diagnosis led to him pausing touring. But Sharon told the BBC the Villa Park gig would be his last. "This is his full stop," she was quoted as saying. Rich Newlove, 34, called it a "bittersweet" experience "because it's his last show". "It's a good send-off... he seems fitter and healthier than I thought he would be." Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan was one of the early performers, saying before the gig that "this might be the greatest one-day lineup in the history of rock 'n' roll". The show is expected to deliver the area a multimillion-pound boost, with hotel occupancy in Birmingham city centre expected to have reached close to 90 percent. Osbourne's live performances at the height of his hedonism have gone down in rock folklore, particularly a 1982 gig in Des Moines, Iowa, when he bit the head off a bat on stage. Osbourne says he thought a fan had thrown a fake rubber bat onstage, and it wasn't until he took a bite that he realised it was real. "I can assure you the rabies shots I went through afterwards aren't fun," he told US TV host David Letterman in 1982. But there was no repeat performance on Saturday. Eager to soak in the historic occasion, many came without tickets, including Derya, who travelled from Cologne with her partner. "We are here, hearing the concert even if we cannot see the bands," she told AFP. - AFP
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Headline: Fast Favourites with new NZSO head Marc Feldman
Our guest for Fast Favourites this week has had a long and award winning career in orchestral leadership. Most recently he was head of France's renowned Orchestre National de Bretagne, a role he held for more than 13 years. Marc Feldman is now getting used to life here in Aotearoa, after his appointment as the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He joined Culture 101 to play Fast Favourites. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne head home for their last show
By Sachin Ravikumar , Reuters Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Kevork Djansezian A day-long celebration of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne began in Birmingham on Saturday, as tens of thousands of fans awaited what the heavy metal legends have said will be their last live performance together. Nearly six decades after helping pioneer heavy metal music with an eponymous song that enthralled and frightened audiences, Black Sabbath are set to return to their home of Aston for 'Back to the Beginning' at Villa Park stadium. Over a dozen acts including Metallica, Slayer, Tool and Guns N' Roses are set to perform to a sea of fans in black band T-shirts with a mix of their own music and renditions of Black Sabbath numbers. Atlanta-based rockers Mastodon kicked off the music, followed by Anthrax, Halestorm and Lamb of God. Black Sabbath are due on stage later. The one-off gig, with profits going to charity, has been billed as Osbourne's last performance, five years after the 76-year-old 'Prince of Darkness' revealed he had Parkinson's disease. "The goal is a very simple one, and that is to create the greatest day in the history of heavy metal as a salute to the band that started it all," Rage Against the Machine member Tom Morello, the music director for the event, told Metal Hammer magazine. The gig will unite Sabbath's original lineup of bassist Geezer Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward and frontman Osbourne for the first time in 20 years. Runo Gokdemir, a teacher from London, said he had sold a car for £400 pounds to pay for a ticket. "I love Ozzy that much," he told Reuters. "When I had a tough time in my teenage years, I listened to Black Sabbath, and Ozzy has got me through a lot." Member of US rock band Anthrax, Scott Ian plays to the crowd as a support act, during British rock band Black Sabbath's "Back to The Beginning" concert, Ozzy Osbourne's final ever gig. Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP Lisa Meyer, who organised a Black Sabbath exhibition in Birmingham in 2019, said the band built an enduring legacy by offering a heavier alternative to the Beatlemania and hippy music of the 1960s. "That's what really resonated with fans, giving a voice to that rage, anger and frustration, but doing it in a really cathartic way," Meyer, co-founder of the Home of Metal project, told Reuters. Sabbath murals and banners have appeared across the city, in the central England, whose factories were one of the influences for the band's heavy sound of loud, distorted guitar and aggressive vocals. Saturday's extravaganza also features performances by Pantera, Gojira, Alice in Chains and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. - Reuters
