“I’m in a situation where I can actually say thank you to the progenitors of a freaking genre”: Kirk Hammett on why Metallica are “lucky” to play Black Sabbath’s final gig
As Black Sabbath prepare to take their final bow with a historic hometown show, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett reflects on the band’s legacy — and why it’s a privilege to be a part of their farewell.
Set for 5 July at Birmingham’s Villa Park, the Back To The Beginning concert marks the final live performance from Black Sabbath’s full original lineup: Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. The one-night-only event will also feature an all-star bill of metal icons including Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, and of course, Metallica.
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Speaking to Heavy Consequence ahead of the show, Hammett notes how “lucky” the band is to be able to pay tribute to the genre’s founding fathers.
“It’s a real opportunity to say thank you to Ozzy and Tony and Geezer and Bill, ’cause they freaking wrote the book on the genre,” says the guitarist. “They developed it, they fleshed it out so that we can use what they did as a stepping stone to other ways to do this.”
“If it wasn’t for those four guys, man, we might still be just kind of like wandering around in the dark. But the fact that they created a genre — not only created it, but then developed it and then turned it into like a few different things over the course of their career — is completely awe inspiring to me and my peers musically.”
For Hammett, the upcoming show is an opportunity to give back to the very musicians who laid the foundation for everything that followed.
“I mean, how do you thank someone like that?” He says. “I feel lucky and blessed that I’m in a situation where I can actually say thank you to the progenitors of a freaking genre. I love those guys. I have love for them for what they did. And I just want them to know that I’m just extremely thankful, ’cause my life would be extremely different if they didn’t do what they did.”
In related news, 76-year-old Ozzy Osbourne has apparently been hitting the gym in preparation for Black Sabbath’s final show, according to collaborator and producer Andrew Watt.
“He’s okay. It’s just his body is not doing what he wants it to do all the time,” Watt said on The Howard Stern Show [via Blabbermouth]. “But I talked to him a couple days ago, and he’s starting to get in the gym again a little bit by little, [to] get himself ready for his last concert.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
