Ghost's TOBIAS FORGE Says He Wanted to Perform a Different Song at BLACK SABBATH’s Farewell Show: 'No! Already Taken'

Summary

• Tobias Forge wanted to perform Black Sabbath’s Am I Going Insane (Radio) at the farewell show, but the request was denied.
• He ended up singing Ozzy Osbourne’s 1983 hit Bark at the Moon with a guest lineup including Travis Barker and Rudy Sarzo.
• Forge chose a song with steady vocals, avoiding Sabbath tracks with long instrumental breaks he couldn’t fill on stage.

Tobias Forge, the voice behind Ghost, recently shared that his first pick for Black Sabbath’s farewell show didn’t make the cut.

The singer was one of many artists invited to perform at Back to the Beginning, a massive farewell event for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Held at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5, the show was packed with music legends. Metallica, Slayer, Tool, Guns N’ Roses, and Alice In Chains all made appearances. Several supergroups also took the stage, playing songs from Sabbath’s catalog and Ozzy’s solo career.

Forge, dressed as his latest Ghost persona Papa V Perpetua, performed Ozzy’s 1983 solo hit Bark at the Moon (watch below). He was backed by a stacked lineup that included Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, and Travis Barker.

But that wasn’t the song he originally had in mind.

In a chat with Planet Rock, Forge revealed that he tried to pick a deeper cut for the event. His first choice was the track Am I Going Insane (Radio), a 1975 single from Black Sabbath’s album Sabotage. The band itself only performed the song live twice, according to Setlist.fm. That rare status made it appealing to Forge, who wanted something less expected.

“One of the songs that I wanted to do was ‘Am I Going Insane’, stuff like that,” he told Planet Rock. “Because that, for me, that’s my childhood, songs like that.”

Forge explained that the process of choosing a song involved multiple rejections. He’d suggest one track, and the organizers would either say it was already claimed or not approved for performance.

“I was figuring out what I was gonna do,” he said. “I was, like, ‘Can I do this?’ ‘No.’ ‘Can I do this?’ ‘Already taken.’”

So one of the reasons he didn’t push harder for other Sabbath tracks had to do with how their songs are structured. As he described it, many of the band’s classics feature extended instrumental passages with very little vocal action.

“There are a lot of Black Sabbath songs that have vocals, and then there’s two minutes of not-vocals, and then there’s a vocal bit,” he explained. “I’m not trying to make fun of anyone but I can’t just stand there like that for two minutes,” he added, mimicking a slow clap to fill the silence.

That format didn’t sit well with Forge. Standing around waiting for the next vocal part didn’t appeal to him, especially not in front of a massive farewell crowd.

Instead, he ended up choosing Bark at the Moon, a more straight-ahead Ozzy solo track with a strong vocal line throughout. The choice gave him more to work with on stage and kept the energy consistent. Even if it wasn’t his dream pick, the result landed well with fans, and his performance quickly made the rounds online.

In a separate interview for the official event program, published by Metal Hammer, Forge dug deeper into his connection with Black Sabbath and Ozzy.

“I’m a lifelong fan of Ozzy and Black Sabbath, thanks to my brother who was 13 years older,” he said. “I can’t even remember when I heard them first. The music was part of the soundtrack of being at home.”

He also talked about how Ozzy shaped his understanding of music and pop culture growing up.

“I was born in 1981, so when I was growing up, Ozzy was such a huge character, not just in the hard rock and metal world, but in the wider culture,” he explained. “He had songs on the radio and MTV. He was almost a pop star.”

While Forge didn’t get to perform the song that reminded him of his youth, he still got to take part in one of the most talked-about concerts of the year. And in a lineup full of iconic acts and surprise collaborations, his presence stood out for both the theatrical performance and the choice of song that, while more well-known, still packed a punch.

Oddly enough, the song he didn’t get to sing might have felt right at home during the show. Am I Going Insane (Radio) may not have been a chart success when it dropped in 1975, but it carries a cult appeal.

Its eerie synths, offbeat lyrics, and emotional vocal delivery made it one of the more unique moments in Sabbath’s catalog. Ozzy himself reportedly wasn’t a big fan of the song, but drummer Bill Ward once described it as “a precursor to [Ozzy’s] solo career… his personality was blooming on this song.”

Would Forge’s version have changed anyone’s mind about it? Hard to say. But it’s clear the Ghost frontman had something different in mind, and wasn’t afraid to go off the beaten path.

For those wondering, Metallica brought their own curveball to the event. They performed Johnny Blade, another obscure Sabbath song that rarely makes live setlists.

That decision showed that even the biggest names in metal were willing to take risks and highlight the lesser-known corners of Sabbath’s discography. Amen.

So, yeah, in the end, Forge played it smart. He chose a track that fit his strengths and stage presence while staying true to the spirit of the event.

And while some Sabbath deep cuts didn’t make it to the setlist, their influence still lingered in the background, right where Forge said they always lived, in his childhood, and in the soundtrack of being at home.

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