Trademark Filings Suggest ‘Back to the Beginning’ Could Become an Annual Event

This past July, the ‘Back to the Beginning‘ show became one of the most impactful and momentous events in heavy metal history. Having taken place in Birmingham, U.K., it was a singularly unique opportunity for the world to say goodbye to Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne as they headed off into retirement. We didn’t know that it would also be the final public appearance of “The Prince of Darkness,” since he ultimately passed away 17 days later, making the aforementioned concert a fixed moment in time for metalheads everywhere.

But this is 2025 and capitalism is a hell of a thing, so of course an amazing one-off event has to run the risk of becoming an annual cash cow. At least that’s what’s been rumbling around thanks to a recent report by The Mirror, which pointed to a U.S. trademark application filed by Ozzy’s rights-holding company, Monowise Ltd.

In the filing, the company requests legal protections for the ‘Back to the Beginning’ brand for live entertainment and merchandise. It’s eerily similar to a U.K. filing that’s also been in the works. If you put two and two together, it’s real easy to imagine a scenario where these filings mean we’ll be getting a U.S. and U.K. version of the event, which would continue as a tribute to Ozzy himself.

Remember, there once was a time that Ozzfest was a thing, so having Ozzy’s face plastered all over the place as metal bands play on stage is nothing new. I think it would be a bit weird if each show was billed as a tribute like the original one was, but if this is just Ozzfest 2.0, it could be pretty cool to see that style of show come back.

So yeah, who knows if anything will come out of this, but if there’s a way to make money off of ‘Back to the Beginning,’ you bet your ass Sharon’s shrewd business sense has already thought of it…