Did you know that Black Sabbath once auditioned Michael Bolton to be the lead singer of the band?

It's true, according to Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. He recently confirmed the long-standing rumor, as Ultimate Classic Rock pointed out Monday (March 9). The revelation occurred as the rocker went over the heavy metal legends' history during an extensive interview on GibsonTV last month (Feb. 13).

Watch the full video down toward the bottom of this post.

"I found David Coverdale, and he said, 'Oh, I just got this band together, Whitesnake. Why didn't you find me before?'" Iommi recalled of the group's attempts to secure a replacement for vocalist Ronnie James Dio in 1982. "I said, 'He hadn't left before; it's happening now.'"

The Black Sabbath icon continued, "So, there was a lot of looking for another singer, and we would audition various singers — including Michael Bolton, believe it or not. He was one of them, which was an odd one. It just went on a bit, and we couldn't decide."

As longtime listeners are familiar, at that time, the group eventually found a singer in Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan. The vocalist recorded on Black Sabbath's 1983 album Born Again before leaving the outfit the following year.

Of course, frequent stints with Ozzy Osbourne also peppered Black Sabbath's career. Not to mention, Dio even returned to the outfit before his death in 2010.

Still, the story that Bolton auditioned for the act has persisted. But not so long ago, the singer himself — who went on to find fame in soft rock and adult contemporary — actually denied that the try-out ever took place.

"[T]hat rumor about me auditioning for Black Sabbath was only a rumor," Bolton told England's The Echo in 2014. "I don't know how on Earth it started."

Bolton's career started out in hard rock. At one point, his early band Blackjack opened for Osbourne on tour. Bolton also co-wrote "Forever" with KISS.

"Icons: Tony Iommi" Interview on GibsonTV - Feb. 13, 2020