The End has come: Black Sabbath perform triumphant final gig in Birmingham

Heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath have brought down the curtain at their final show.

Nearly half a century since their first gigs, the Birmingham rockers returned to their home town with indomitable frontman Ozzy Osbourne for their swansong set.

Thousands of fans from around the world descended on Birmingham's Genting Arena to see the Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler blast out their hits together one last time.

At their final London show last week, Neil McCormick wrote that the show had been surprisingly unsentimental. However, this was not entirely the case in Birmingham.

Famed for once biting the head off a live bat on stage (though he later admitted that he thought the bat was rubber at the time), Osbourne, 68, signed off with a performance of their 1970 classic, Paranoid, and thanked fans as balloons and confetti rained down.

Ahead of the final performance Osbourne said his emotions were "all over the place".

Rehearsing for the big finale, he told the BBC: "Since I've got to this building, I've been happy, I've been tearful. Let's see what happens."

Credited with creating the heavy metal genre in the depths of Sixties industrial Birmingham, the band went on to release 19 studio albums and 31 singles.

"One of the proudest things I have in my heart is the fact that Black Sabbath wasn't a band that was created by some big mogul," Osbourne said.

"It was four guys who said, 'Let's have a dream', and it came true beyond our wildest expectations."

He described his life with the band as "the most incredible adventure", but conceded that Sabbath had "run its course".

Fans need not be completely disheartened by the end of Black Sabbath, however, as Osbourne will continue to perform as a solo artist.

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