Tony Iommi admits it's 'highly unlikely' Black Sabbath will perform again

Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi says it’s ‘highly unlikely’ the band will play together again but he still wouldn’t rule out a one-off show.

Author: Scott Colothan Published 23rd Apr 2018



Tony hosted a charity lunch at Birmingham’s Opus Restaurant on Friday (20th April) where he answered questions about his legendary career.

Asked if Black Sabbath will get together again following 2017’s The End tour, Tony said: "It's highly unlikely, but we may. You can never say never, because we've done it so many times, you say, 'Oh, that's it now,' with different singers and different this and that. And all of a sudden, we're playing together again.

“I would hope we could do some one-offs, but we'll never tour the world again as we did, because it really is exhausting."

He continued (via Blabbermouth): "People think, 'What a great life,' and it is a great life, but it takes its toll on your body. All the traveling at different hours of the day and night. You finish a show at 11 o'clock. We'd base ourselves in one place, like New York or wherever we were, and then we'd stay in New York for 10 days, fly out and do a show and fly back in the night.

“So by the time you get to the hotel, it's four o'clock or five o'clock. And you can't sleep. And that's the difficult part. Even though you travel the best way you can. We had a great plane, we had great hotels — everything was marvellous — but it's still tiring."

> Many thanks to everyone who came to the lunch yesterday, you raised over £23,000! The money will go towards equipping the new cancer ward. You’re real fans and special people.

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> Many thanks to @br for the lovely photo. L-R: Gary Newbon, myself, Maria, Dr Paneesha, & Dr Nikolousis pic.twitter.com/T67sQozhEX > > — Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) April 21, 2018

Tony added: "I think when you get to our age, it changes from when we're 20. Back in those days we could stay up all night. But now I'm 30 and it's a different thing. It's hard. And, of course, with us, we didn't see each other that much, because everybody had their own space and we'd stay in the room.

“We'd get back after the show and go to our rooms. So, you get to your room, put the TV on, watch something till five o'clock or whatever it might be, and then fall asleep. And then you'd arrange to see each other for breakfast occasionally. But it didn't happen too often. We sort of became more… Everybody wanted their own space. Ozzy (Osbourne) had room service, I had room service, Geezer (Butler) got room service, and before you knew it, we wouldn't see anyone at all until the following day. We'd do a day on, day off. So you're sitting in your room and thinking, 'What do I do now?'

"I was going out walking with a security guard, because none of the other guys wanted to go out for a walk. And I'd be the only one in the bar, because everybody else was recovering alcoholics. That's sort of how it went. Twenty years ago, we'd all be in the bar and talk about the band and what we were gonna do. That had all gone. The only time we'd get a chance to talk was on the flights or on stage at the gig. Me and Oz would have a conversation between the set on tour, which is ironic. We'd say to each other 'What did you do last night?' And there's, like, thirty thousand people out there. But that's the way it had gone."

The 70-year-old heavy metal pioneer is Patron of Ward 19, the dedicated cancer ward at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital, and Friday’s lunch raised over £23,000 that will go directly towards equipping a new cancer ward at the hospital.

Late Black Sabbath keyboardist and close friend of Tony, Geoff Nicholls, was treated for lung cancer at Ward 19. He lost his battle to the disease in January 2017.