“I just can’t,” Plant recalled of informing Iommi on his decision to not be present at the performance

Robert Plant in July 2018; Tony Iommi in September 2022.Credit : David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty (2)

Robert Plant is opening up about a fairly shocking “no” he recently gave Tony Iommi.

The legendary Led Zeppelin member, 76, shared in a new interview with Mojo that he was asked to attend Black Sabbath’s “Back to the Beginning” farewell concert, Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance before his death, but declined Iommi’s invitation at the time.

“I said, Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come,” Plant recalled, according to the publication. “I just can’t. I’m not saying that I’d rather hang out with Peter Gabriel or Youssou N’Dour, but I don’t know anything about what’s going on in that world now, at all. I don’t decry it, I’ve got nothing against it. It’s just I found these other places that are so rich.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Plant opened up more about his current perspective on gigging, which may have in part informed his decision to not attend a show as large as “Back to the Beginning,” which drew in roughly 40,000 attendees in person, with another roughly 5 million watching via livestream — a performance that the award-winner seemingly alluded to as “doing the football stadium with some old mates.”

Robert Plant in March 2019; Ozzy Osbourne in December 2014.Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

“For me, because I’ve been from a very questionable Live Aid to the O2, to Obama and the White House and all those things, I was beatified. I felt the tug of doing this — Saving Grace needed just to move on up in glory, as Mavis [Staples] would say. We’ve got to be very careful now that we make sure it stays closer to Bert Jansch than Axl Rose,” the artist explained.

He continued to note, “The gigs are small enough so that if nobody wants to go, it’s not the end of the world. And so, by having that laissez-faire, easy-going, whatever it’s called — suicidal! — attitude, instead of doing the football stadium with some old mates, there it was: we were free. We could mess about.”

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“Back to the Beginning” served as a de-facto send-off for Black Sabbath, drawing in contemporaries such as Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Yungblud and more, all of whom took the stage to honor the band largely credited with helping set the foundation for the metal genre as a whole.

Just over two weeks after the July 5 performance, Osbourne died at 76 on July 22, with his cause of death later revealed as “out of hospital cardiac arrest” and “acute myocardial infarction,” with coronary artery disease and Parkinson’s disease with autonomic dysfunction listed as “joint causes.” The rocker’s daughter, Aimee, submitted the death certificate at a registry in London.

“It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” Osbourne’s family told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. “He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”

Robert Plant in June 2022.Samir Hussein/WireImage

In a statement shared on X following Osbourne’s passing, Plant wrote, “Farewell Ozzy … what a journey … sail on up there .. finally at peace .. you truly changed the planet of rock!”

It seems as though one of Osbourne and Plant’s last known interactions came about in 2016, and by hilarious mistaken circumstances at that. In an interview with Conan O’Brien at the time, Osbourne and his son, Jack, revealed that the singer accidentally texted Plant when his cat was missing.

“He once accidentally sent Robert Plant a text message being like, ‘I can’t find the cat,’” he revealed, which elicited roaring laughter from Osbourne, O’Brien and the crowd.

“I love Robert Plant playing in concert singing a Led Zeppelin tune getting a text from Ozzy, ‘Buy more milk,’” O’Brien jested in response, prompting Osbourne to reply that Plant actually texted him back concerned, questioning “You can’t find the cat?”