Tony Iommi has been talking to the Loudwire Nights podcast about his upcoming solo album and, inevitably, Black Sabbath and the aftermath of the Back To The Beginning show.
That gig brought the curtain down on the band in the most satisfying, and emotional, way possible. As we know, less than three weeks later Ozzy Osbourne left us. "He was really happy with it, that we could do it, you know," Iommi said of the show.
"In fact, I spoke to him the night before he passed. He said to me, 'I really feel tired and really worn out.' I said, 'Well, you're bound to really, it's been a lot of stress and pressure and stuff like that.' And the next thing, the next day, (he's) gone."
The guitarist also admitted that he still struggles to believe that Ozzy is actually gone, so often is he reminded of him. "It still feels like he's there.”
That said, Iommi revealed that there were certain aspects of Back To The Beginning that he struggled with: “It was difficult because seeing Ozzy sitting in a throne is not the way I see him.
"Always (when) we've been onstage, he's been running around and he'd run up to Geezer (Butler) and pull a face jokingly and come over to me and pull a face or the drummer or whatever. We always had a little laugh onstage and enjoy when he'd run about.”
“But at Back to the Beginning, of course, he's in a throne and I couldn't see him, which felt very unusual. I stood back by Bill (Ward). But it was a great moment, and I'm really glad we could get the opportunity to do it, because I mean, God, we didn't know he was going to go that quick. But he did... There's memories that will remain there, from rehearsals to the whole thing... I am glad that we could do that gig."
Iommi’s solo album From The Dark is his first in over two decades. Most of the band he’s currently working with are local to Birmingham, although he did reveal that one of the guests on the record is a fellow guitar legend and old friend: Brian May. "We've known each other for 56, 58 years,” he reveals. “He's my best friend. And of course, Eddie Van Halen was. We always stayed in touch a lot. They were the only two I really did stay in touch with.”
“(Brian) came to my house and we always have a little fiddle about. I said, 'You're going to be playing on this track here.' He's great. I said to him, 'Play on some other tracks,' but he went, 'Oh no, it's your album.' That's the relationship we've had with each other for all these years. We've played a lot together. He is a great friend."
