Kiwi musician Jon Toogood says being able to perform a powerful tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne was “magic” as he recalled the time the late rock legend gave his band grief over their distinctive name.
Toogood, the lead singer and guitarist of New Zealand band Shihad, took the stage of Spark Arena last Saturday during Synthony’s sold-out Full Metal Orchestra.
Devastated by Osbourne’s death, he says a special bond was forged with the Black Sabbath frontman more than a decade ago when the British band invited Shihad to support their 2013 Australia and New Zealand tour.
Black Sabbath had last performed in Aotearoa 40 years earlier, headlining the Great Ngāruawāhia Music Festival in 1973.
Shihad opened Black Sabbath’s two shows at Auckland’s Spark Arena before backing the British band at various gigs across the Tasman.
“They asked us to play, support them, so they treated us really well,” Toogood told the Herald.
He described Black Sabbath’s vibe over the tour as “really relaxed” and “family-oriented”, with Osbourne having a “lovely” backstage presence.
“Ozzy was lovely, always up for saying hello and a quick chat.”
He reflected on the final show of the Australian leg, where Osbourne “sort of gave [Shihad] sh*t about our name” during a jesting conversation with the band.
“How do you get on with a name like Shihad?” Toogood recalled Osbourne asking him, in a recent RNZ interview.
“It was really cute.”
Being a guitar player himself, Toogood described meeting Black Sabbath guitarist and riff writer Tony Iommi as “one of the more exciting” moments in the tour.
RIP Ozzy. He provided the soundtrack to our youth and we were blessed to have met him and to have shared a stage with...
Posted by Shihad on Tuesday 22 July 2025
“I got to watch one of my favourite metal bands play every night.
“And I got to talk to Geezer Butler, who’s the bass player who wrote the lyrics to Black Sabbath’s War Pigs ... I signed a few CDs for his nephew, who was a fan of Shihad from Nottingham."
Last Saturday, he performed War Pigs – an anti-war protest song from 1970 that’s endured as one of heavy metal’s greatest hits – alongside the 29-piece Auckland Philharmonia and a band.
“Everyone wants to say their own version of a goodbye to Ozzy, I think, and that song is just a perfect vehicle to do that,” Toogood said.
“[It was] a celebration of his life because it’s such a great, iconic song, but the lyrics are still so relevant to what’s going on in the world.”
While he didn’t choose War Pigs himself, Toogood was immediately drawn to the track during planning.
“I definitely put my hand up from a list of songs that they were potentially going to do and said, ‘F***, I’m keen to do War Pigs if no one else takes it’.
“And they came back and said, ‘War Pigs is yours’, which made me very happy.”
It was the crowd’s response to the song that resonated the most with Toogood.
“Having everybody sing ... I mean, we’re pretty loud through that PA. And they were louder than the PA, the 6000 people in that room.”
Osbourne, who had Parkinson’s disease, died aged 76 on July 22 at his home in Buckinghamshire, England.
He was buried last week after a parade through the streets of Black Sabbath’s hometown of Birmingham, a “fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral”, Lord Mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal said.
It wasn’t immediately known what caused his death, although a statement from his family said he passed “surrounded by love”, and asked for privacy as they grieved.
Just weeks before, Osbourne had reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates in Birmingham for their Back to the Beginning farewell concert.
Four-man rock band Shihad, which were formed in Wellington in 1988, announced their retirement last year.
Bassist Karl Kippenberger said the decision to end the band had been “a long time coming”, later adding: “Deep down, I never want this to end.”
They announced a nationwide tour to cap off the band’s 32-year stint, which began in New Plymouth last December and culminated in a final concert at Spark Arena on March 14.
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.